High School Never Ends
by pixidust-princess
Summary: The cast of FMA are all in high school, however not as students...but teachers. Follow the romance, humour and general chaos, mainly caused by Ed, as they teach at the most prestigious boarding schools in Amestris. EdxWinry, RoyxRiza, AlxOC T FOR LANGUAGE
1. Prologue

Prologue

**Wanted: **

**Teachers for Central Private Boarding School.**

**One Extra-Curricular teacher: and One Mechanics Teacher.**

**Must have first aid training. All Applicants must book an appointment by 31****st**** August.**

At two opposite ends of Central two women looked at the advertisement in the _Central Times_; one sat at her desk taking a break from her latest creation and the other was cleaning out her gun.

'Perfect,' they both thought, grinning and picked up their phones.

"Hello, Central Private Boarding School, Jean Havoc speaking, how can I help you?"

"Yes, I read your add in the _Central Times _and I'm currently looking to fill the position of a teacher. I have had first aid training and also have experience in the field so all requirements are met to fill your offered position…. Yes.. thank you… no problem, twelve it is." As the women set down their phones they smiled to themselves, with the same thought crossing their minds… this would be an interesting year indeed.

**a/n this chapter and the next one are posted up now. Please read on, it'll make my day!**

**Thanks**

**xxxx**


	2. Hiring the Maniacs

Chapter 1

"So, why do you think that knitting should be part of this school's extra-curricular studies?" Roy Mustang's bored voice asked.

"Well, I think that knitting is a very important part of a person's life," the large man with a thick beard replied.

"Yes, but why?" Roy proceeded.

"Because it is." Roy sighed.

"Right, I'll call you some time tomorrow. If you don't answer your phone, then you won't get the job IF I decide to give it to you," Roy explained and the man nodded before walking out of the room. Roy picked up his phone and quickly dialed some numbers into the phone.

"Havoc," he said as soon as the man answered.

"Yes Sir?"

"STOP SENDING CRAZY PEOPLE INTO MY OFFICE! FOR THE LOVE OF GOD!" He yelled and slammed the phone down. Running a hand through his onyx hair he picked up the list of applicants and checked the next name on the list. A knock on the door caused him to put down the file and he called for the person to enter.

He looked up to see a blonde haired woman with dark brown eyes wearing a blue suit enter the room.

"Miss Riza Hawkeye, I presume," he said and she nodded, taking a seat in front of his desk, "So what do you think should be the extra-curricular lesson here?"

"I think the children should learn shooting," she replied and he looked up in horror.

"Shooting? As in, with a gun?" he exclaimed and she nodded.

"Like this one," she said and pulled out a handgun that Roy had not noticed earlier.

"Where did you have that hidden?" he asked, grinning but she ignored him "So anyway, why do you think that they need to learn to shoot?"

"Because I think that everybody should know basic self defense and shooting is a safe way for children to learn at school."

"Shooting is safe?" he shot her a disbelieving glance.

"If taught and practiced the correct way, then yes," she replied.

"Let's see your CV then." and she pulled out a thick CV from her bag, passing it to Roy, "Worked in the army, trained especially in shooting, worked your way up to First Lieutenant. Wow, that's quite a set of achievements you've got there. You've put forward a good case, and you seem like an interesting person, but I want more than just a good CV, what else can you give me that shows that you can work here," he started but before he could finish she had pulled out the gun and planted 7 bullets around the Headmaster, missing him by millimeters. "Right, well that's interesting for sure. I'll give you a call tomorrow about whether you've got the job."

She nodded and left the room, leaving an amazed Mustang sat there.

"Last person of the day, Sir," Havoc called through the open door and Roy silently thanked God and prayed that this person wasn't a complete psycho.

"Roy Mustang?" a voice asked and Roy looked up to see the second blonde woman walk through his door today.

The majority of people that had applied had been men and most of them had been insane, leaving a very tired and annoyed headmaster with an odd selection of people to choose from. He looked up at the girl and decided she looked relatively normal, which he took as a good start.

"So, Miss Winry Rockbell, what do you think should be the extra-curricular subject?" he asked, thankful it would be the last time.

"That's not why I'm here," the girl replied and Roy stopped.

"Wait, you're here for the mechanics interview?" he asked and she nodded her head eagerly.

"Yep. Here's my CV," she said and pulled out a CV, passing it to Roy.

"Worked in Rush Valley with Garfiel, well that is an achievement. Related to Pinako Rockbell and worked with her until you were sixteen fixing people with Automail. Well, let's see some of your masterpieces, I know a couple of people here that would be very interested in your work." and Winry nodded before reaching into her bag and pulled out an automail arm.

"Well, isn't this interesting. An automail left arm, if I'm not mistaken. And looks well made too," he commented, picking up the arm and turning it over.

"Yeah, it's just an arm that I've been working on for a while. I've been working on making the arm out of a mixture of steel and carbon, to make it strong and long lasting. I've also been working on a cooker and a car as well, I have photos if you'd like to see them," she replied excitedly, reaching into her handbag.

"No, that won't be necessary. Be sure to keep by your phone tomorrow, as I'll be phoning to tell you whether you've got the job or not," he explained and walked over to the door, "Thank you Miss Rockbell."

Once she had left the room Havoc walked in with a pile of paperwork and a steaming cup of coffee.

"You haven't done these, and they're due in tomorrow, looks like another all-nighter," Havoc said and Roy sighed.

"There's too much paperwork and too few hours in the day. I swear sometimes the world is out to get me."

"So, have you decided who you're going to hire then?" Havoc asked, leaning against the door, drinking his own cup of coffee.

"Well, most of them were completely insane, especially the last two. The one for the extra-curricular activities told me she wanted to teach them shooting then proceeded to shoot AT me, and the other was a GIRL but wanted the mechanic job. She wouldn't stop talking about an automail arm and the materials she used to build it," he commented.

"Well, Fullmetal would be interested in that. So, are you going to hire anyone?"

"Yeah, the last two were the best ones."

"Are you sure? I mean, they're both women and they both seem insane," Havoc asked.

"Now, Havoc lets not get sexist. You're a man and a secretary. Let's not get onto the conversation of whether people's jobs suit them or not. Anyway, I think it'll be interesting, having them here. It won't make much of a difference anyway, not many of the people who are working here are normal anyway. Rose is a religion nut and Fullmetal is…well he's Fullmetal. I don't need to say anymore. Let's see how they fit in," Roy commented and quickly signed all the papers, "There. Done."

"I think you're supposed to read them," Havoc advised and Roy laughed.

"Read them? Nah, that takes too much time, anyway I've got a date. I'll see you tomorrow," and with that he walked out of the room thinking about how interesting the new teachers at his school will be.

* * *

"Hello?" Riza asked, after picking up the phone.

"_Is this Miss Riza Hawkeye?" _a voice asked.

"Yes, speaking?"

"_Its Roy Mustang here, I'm just calling to say you got the job and you'll start tomorrow. Pack your things because all the teachers live on site."_

"Thank you Sir, I will pack now. I have final request."

"_What's that?"_

"I have a dog, if I'm allowed; I would like to keep him."

"_Well, I don't see why don't. As long as he's trained and kept out of sight. I expect you to be at the school at 4.00am so you can look around the school before it starts at 9.00am."_

"Yes Sir," Riza replied and put down the phone. Happy she had got the job, she looked around her small apartment and sighed, 'Well, better start packing then,' she thought.

"Come on Black Hayete, we're moving tomorrow and we need to get there bright and early," she said to her black and white puppy who wagged it's tail in response and they walked over to her room, to pack away her clothes.

* * *

"Hello? Winry speaking, how may I help you?" Winry spoke down the phone.

"_Miss Winry Rockbell, its Roy Mustang here. I'm just calling to say you've got the job."_

"Really?! That's great! When do I start?" she cried, jumping up and down.

"_Be at the school at 4.00am with all your belongings. It is required that all teachers live on campus."_

"Cool, okay I'll see you then. Thanks Mr Mustang." and Winry hung up the phone.

"Granny, I got the job, so I'm going to start packing now. I have to be there at 4.00am tomorrow," Winry yelled down the stairs and she started to throw her things into a suitcase.

**a/n wooooo! New story up! I'm writing a few now, but mainly only working on a story of my own and another fma fanfic, though I do have another idea for JamesxLily story, which is slowly (very slowly) progressing in my head. Though it will only be an oneshot again.**

**Anyway the main pairing for this will be EdxWinry, however it will also have RoyxRiza and AlxOC. Sorry if you don't like these pairings, but they are my favourite to write so…**

**Thanks tons to my beta, she's awesome!**

**Please review, ****constructive ****criticism is great, but only if it will help my writing in any way, please don't make really harsh ones, they only make me sad.**

**Love you all**

**xxxx**


	3. Nosying Around

**I'm sorry! I said that I would update at the weekend, but I was so busy I wasn't able to. Sorry sorry sorry! Here's this chapter; better late then never!**

**p.s thanks be to my beta!**

**Disclaimer: I might have forgotten to say in the previous chapters, I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist and never will (these goes for the last chapters too)**

Chapter 2

"Wow," Winry gasped as she looked up at the school. When she had the interview, she only saw the newest block of the school, which was nothing like this block, which was old and gothic looking.

"I know what you mean," a voice said behind her and Winry jumped, turning to see a woman aged in her late twenties with blonde hair and dark brown, which had a slight tint of red in them.

"Winry Rockbell, I'm the new mechanic," Winry introduced herself.

"Riza Hawkeye, I'm the new extra-curricular teacher."

"Cool, what are you teaching them?"

"Well it was shooting, but I've decided to teach self defence in general."

"Well, I see you two have met each other, but now let's do proper introductions," Roy said from behind them, causing Winry to look at him in confusion and Riza to raise an eyebrow. "My name's Roy Mustang. I'm 34 and I'm the headmaster at this school. I'm probably the best looking person here and I'm also single, looking for random play."

Winry looked at him in disbelieve, however looked horrified when he turned to her, "Right, your turn."

"Well, ummmm. I'm Winry Rockbell, I'm 22 and I'm the new Mechanics teacher. I'm not going to say how beautiful or ugly I am, because it's kinda vain, but I'm single and happy with it."

Turning to Riza Roy nodded his head and Riza let out an exasperated sigh.

"I'm Riza Hawkeye," she finally started, "I'm 32 and I'm teaching self defence here."

"Hey! You never said anything about your availability!" Roy exclaimed.

"It's not relevant." She calmly explained and Roy shook his head, smirking.

"It's very relevant. I need to know if I'll get beaten up by a boyfriend or husband if I flirt with you. Wait you are straight, right?" He looked from Winry to Riza.

Winry nodded awkwardly and Riza turned around, but only after sending Roy a very threatening death glare.

"I'll take that as a no then…" Roy started and Riza snapped.

"Yes, I'm straight and single! Happy now?!" she cried and Roy smirked.

"Very, now come on. We're wasting time standing around making idle chit chat."

Riza looked at him in amazement. 'How could one person piss her off so much? Break her cool exterior like that?'

Following Roy, Winry and Riza started to walk through a grand quod.

"This is where the main school is," he said, pointing to the building the surrounded the quod, "Over there is where the dining room and staff room are and you'll both be teaching over there," he pointed to one side of the building, and then to the other side.

"So, how long are the lessons here then?" Riza asked, looking through the windows of the school.

"You'll get you time table soon, but each lesson is an hour long, and you'll normally have about 3 lessons a day at most," Roy explained. Right, let's go to my office and I'll give you keys and your school diaries."

They walked to a door, which Roy produced a key for, leading straight from the gardens to his office.

They entered the office and Roy gestured to two seats for Riza and Winry to sit at.

After sitting down Roy shuffled through his desk, obviously having much difficulty in finding whatever he was looking for.

"God this is a mess. I told Havoc to tidy it, but he hasn't. I don't know why I still keep him, he's so lazy," Roy told the two women and Winry laughed.

"What's so funny?" Roy asked and Winry's eyes fell to the floor, her face covered in guilt. "Well?"

Winry stuttered, trying to find an excuse for her laughter but failed…miserably.

"What Miss Rockbell is trying to say is if it's such a mess, why don't you clean it. It's your desk," Riza interrupted and Roy frowned.

"But it's his job!"

"You're the one making it messy, you should clean it," She stated sternly and Roy shook his head. Why did this woman nearly make him accept that he should clean the desk?

"Well anyway I've got them now so it doesn't matter." He passed the two women a plastic wallet full of paper and a notebook. "This is your school diary. I want you to write down all the homework assessments you give and generally all class related things. Also, if there is any misbehaving then I want you to give them black marks which you should write in here and then tell me when you do. If the children get 3 black marks then they get an after school detention. Three detentions and they are suspended, though that's never happened here before."

"Does this school have many children that take drugs or drink?" Riza asked and Roy frowned again.

"This is the most prestigious school in Amestris, so there is a high chance that people take drugs. They spend the money that daddy gives them. However we make parents sign a form before the children join the school, giving us permission to do random drugs tests if we suspect a pupil of taking drugs. Drugs are banned here and are dealt with very severely. The pupil would be expelled straight away, and as most pupils know this, I haven't had a drug problem yet," he explained, and knocked on his wooded desk, "knock on wood. There shouldn't be a problem with that, don't worry."

"So the children normally are well behaved," Winry asked.

"Most of the time, but we threaten them with telling their parents, which keeps the brats in order. Don't let them boss you around, they can be snobbish at times but don't let them get away with it."

Riza grinned evilly and Roy knew that no-one would be stepping out of line in her class. The mechanic however was a different story. She looked quiet and a bit of a pushover.

Winry glanced up and saw his sceptic face, "Oh don't worry Mr Mustang, they won't," she said firmly and pulled a wrench out of her bag.

"It's not legal to hit children, is it?" Roy asked.

"Yeah, apparently it is. I won't of course, but it won't matter if I threaten them once," and an evil glint appeared in her eyes.

'More lunatics added to the man house then,' Roy thought and sighed.

"Good. If you are going to hit them though, make sure you don't leave any marks." She nodded and he smiled, "Right then, that's everything. You have a couple of hours to go and sort out your apartments, but I want you here by 8.00am. It's," he looks at his pocket watch, "6.00am now, that leaves you two hours." He walked over to the door and opened it for the two women.

"Where would you like us to meet Sir?" Riza asked.

"In the staff room. And please don't call me 'Sir', call me Roy."

"Well, bye then," Winry said smiling and left the room.

"Goodbye Sir." And Riza turned, leaving the room before Roy could tell her to stop calling him that.


	4. Meeting the crew

**Because I updated so slowly and I had this chapter done, as a sorry I've put this one up too. Hope you enjoy, this was my favourite to write!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist**

Chapter 3

Riza walked with her dog quickly around the campus, taking in all the little pathways and secret hiding spots, so that she knew where to walk her dog and where the students would be hiding if they were smoking. But didn't Roy say that they didn't have that kind of trouble? Maybe they were too smart to take drugs and smoke. Or maybe they just didn't get caught.

Hearing Black Hayete give a small whine, Riza turned around and started to walk to the apartment, so both her and her dog could have breakfast.

* * *

Winry on the other hand had already eaten, and as she didn't have a dog to walk anymore (she had left Den with her Pinako so that she didn't get lonely) she decided to have a shower and change into a smarter outfit of a white shirt, a light blue v-neck sweater vest and a black skirt with some boots. Trying her hair into a quick messy bun and clipping it at the back, she did a quick once over in front of the mirror. Nodding in satisfaction she left the apartment, grabbing her keys and locking the door.

* * *

When she arrived at the staff room, she walked around, introducing herself to all the other teachers, making sure she remembered who they were and what they taught.

At five to nine, Winry looked around the room to say goodbye to the other people there when her eyes fell on a short, blonde man asleep on the chair who she hadn't noticed before. Glancing at her watch she saw that lessons were about to start however she realised none of the other teachers seemed to care that he was asleep. Worried that he might miss his lesson, she decided to wake him, so Winry cautiously walked up to him.

"Ummmm excuse me, you need to get up. Classes start in 5 minutes," Winry said, shaking him lightly, causing him to role over but not wake up, "You have to get up now," she said with more authority but still had no success.

"That won't work. There's only one way to wake him up," Roy smirked from behind her before calling out loudly, "Hey has anyone seen Fullmetal? I would look but he's so SHORT it would take me hours to find him, even with a magnifying glass."

The other people in the room seem to turn towards Roy and shake their heads, taking a step away from him.

"Sir, that's just asking for trouble you know what Fullmetal's like he'll cut your head of for calling you short and then -," Breda started but got loudly interrupted.

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING SO SHORT THAT THEIR PAPER WORK IS TEN TIMES TALLER?" a voice yelled, nearly deafening Winry.

"Fullmetal, calm down," Roy grinned, "Just comment on his height and he's up in a flash."

"Why is a student here anyway?" Winry asked and the whole room burst out laughing, excluding the blond haired person, who looked like he could kill her.

"Winry, this isn't a student this is the Chemistry teacher, Edward Elric though most of the teachers just call him Ed or Fullmetal," Roy explained.

"Why is he called Fullmetal?" and Ed sighed before rolling up the right sleeve of his white shirt, revealing an automail arm. Winry gasped in delight and ran over to him, hoisting up his arm and inspecting it in wonder.

"This is amazing. Well, actually no it's not, the work's shabby and it could be made much lighter, it's quite heavy at the moment."

"What? What do you mean it's shabby?" Ed shouted.

"Well, the metals are wrong. He's used iron and tin together, whereas steel and carbon would be much stronger, and not to mention much lighter. It would probably cost a little more but it won't need maintenance as often, due to its high strength."

Ed sent Roy a worried and confused look who laughed.

"Ed, this is the new Mechanics teacher Winry Rockbell. She specialises in automail."

"I could redo this for you, you know," Winry said, grinning at Ed like he was a lab rat.

"It's okay. I had it done down the road a couple of weeks ago," Ed started but stopped when Winry pulled a wrench out of her bag and suddenly pulled a piece of the arm plate off the arm.

"YOU BITCH!" Ed cried.

"Well, now you have to come and see me. That won't stop your arm from working for now, but it will if you don't have it checked up soon. As I broke it I'll repair it for free," she grinned and Ed growled.

"I'll see you back here at 4.30. And it had better be free. I'm going to class," and he stormed out of the room.

"He has a metal leg too. His left one, right?" Winry commented.

"Well done, you're right. I see I hired you for a good reason. Only Al and I know about his leg, so I would like it if you kept that to yourself." Winry nodded.

"Wow. Well Edward seems…violent. I don't think he likes me very much after me calling him a student," Winry sighed. This was not a good way to start off at her new school; pissing off the first teacher she meets.

"He's not as bad as he seems. His brother works here also; he's the school Doctor and Biology teacher. It seems that the whole family are obsessed with science. Anyway, you better get back to work."

Winry looked at her watch and her stomach gave a nervous flip. It was nearly 9 o'clock and her first ever lesson started then. She was absolutely petrified; what would happen if she messed it all up? She would get fired and have to get a new job. But she wouldn't be able to, as all the new jobs she applied for would want to know why she got fired. Thousands of manic thoughts streamed through her mind, and as she looked up she realised that Roy was still talking to her.

"As your time table says, lunch is served here at the same time as the students and so is break. We eat our lunch in the dining room that is adjoined to the staff room, so we don't have to line up with the students," Winry realised he was saying and he looked back at her, seeing, to her discomfort, that she was terrified, " Don't worry, you'll do fine. That's why I hired you. Now we both have to go. Have a good morning and relax a little or you'll scare the children," Roy said and walked out of the room, leaving Winry to nod her head in agreement and leave the room after him to search for her first class.


	5. Automail o'clock

Chapter 4

The day came and went, Winry enjoying all of her classes, and her students eager to learn. Obviously automail was a lot more interesting than Maths. Winry felt sorry for the other teachers, the class must have been chaotic once her lesson was over.

Walking back to the Staff Room, Winry looked around the old school. The school was well known for having classes that other schools did not teach. The classes that other schools did have couldn't compare to the classes here. All the students got the top grades in Amestris, and the parents paid a lot for their children to come here.

Opening the door to the Staff Room she saw Riza talking to the P.E teacher Alex Armstrong, who was well known around the country for his amazing strength, though Winry thought it was a bit weird, but she was hardly one to talk.

"Hey Winry, how was your first day of teaching?" a voice said and she turned to see Rose, the religious studies teacher say.

"It was okay, the class really loved it. Well I think they did, so it should be alright," Winry replied grinning. She really had had a brilliant day. The school was amazing and she had really loved teaching the kids. They were all so attentive and really keen to work, so her job was so easy.

"Yeah, they all came into my class saying how much fun it was. Are you going to let them make automail body parts?"

"No, I'll probably just show them how they are used, and the parts of it. I might possible demonstrate how they are made but I'm not sure yet. I don't think that they should need to know how to make it, just how it works. I might give them a project on it, but I'm not sure. I'm quite new to this," Winry explained and stopped when she saw Ed walk into the room, "Hey Ed, you ready?"

"Yeah, whatever," Ed muttered.

"What's happening?" Rose asked.

"I broke Ed's arm, so I'm going to fix it," Winry replied.

"Ah, I see," Rose said, frowning slightly before smiling, "Well have a good evening, I'll pray for you both," and she left the Staff Room.

"Where's you apartment then?" Ed asked as they walked out of the room, throwing his brief-case over his left shoulder and following Winry across the hallway and out of the doors of the school, leading across to the teacher's accommodation.

"Just down here. So, you teach chemistry what's that like? I've never been too good at it myself but…" she trailed off.

"It's really good. I love it, it's my life. But you can't be too bad at it; you know all the elements that would be good in automail."

"Yeah, but that's just automail I guess. Other than that I'm completely clueless. Right we're here, sorry it's a mess, I've just moved in so there are boxes and automail pieces everywhere," she said and they walked into the apartment, which true to Winry's word was full of cardboard boxes and scrap pieces of metal.

"Wow, you really are into automail. So what are you going to do with my arm?" Ed asked.

"Well, I have started making an automail arm of steel and carbon, like I told you earlier, it's almost finished. I could give you a leg made of the same as well if you like." Ed's eyes widened.

"How do you know about my leg? Who told you?" he scowled.

"I figured it out myself. I am an automail mechanic you know, I noticed that you're walk was lopsided," she explained and he nodded slowly.

"Well, I'll see about this arm and if it's good then I'll consider getting the leg done too. I don't like having to change mechanics too often, so you would have to do an amazing job."

"I can understand that, it's painful," she commented.

"In more ways than one," he muttered and she raised her eyebrows, "It doesn't matter."

Walking over to her worktop, she instructed Ed to make himself at home while she finished the arm, telling him that it would only take a couple of minutes.

Ed walked into the living room and looked around, picking up various pictures.

"Is this a picture of you and your parents?" Ed called.

"Yeah, they were doctors but they died when I was little in the war," she shouted back and Ed nodded silently, "Can you make me a cup of coffee please? You'll find the stuff in the kitchen already."

Walking into the kitchen and turning on the kettle Ed made himself some coffee and Winry one too, after being instructed to add milk and 2 sugars.

"Okay, its ready now," she yelled and Ed walked back into the workroom.

"Sit here," she ordered and he passed her the coffee before sitting on the chair, "Take this off," she pointed to his shirt and waistcoat. Ed paused for a second in embarrassment but did as she said. After taking off the clothes she left the room and came back a couple of minutes later, her hair in a bandana and wearing a black tube top and a boiler suit.

Picking up Ed's arm she quickly took it from the Docking Station before throwing it carelessly in the bin.

"Hey! That's my arm!" Ed protested but Winry just grinned.

"Trust me, once you have my arm, you will not need something as crappy of that," she said and attached the new arm in place, ready to connect it.

"Fine, just get this over with quickly," he said.

"One, Two, THREE!" she called and pulled at the wrench, connecting the nerves. Ed clamping together his teeth together, muffling his cries.

"Ed, are you okay? Why aren't you crying? Have I done it wrong?" Winry asked, suddenly worried. Automail attachment had brought everyone she had ever done it to tears, whatever their age or strength. So why wasn't he crying?

"Its fine, you've done it right," Ed said through clenched teeth.

"What?"

"Trust me; I know you've done it right. Now can you finish it before I pass out," he growled and she nodded, pulling again at the wrench and Ed muffled his cries. Finally Winry pulled one last time and she took the wrench off the arm.

"You alright? You didn't even cry out in pain," she said and Ed shook his head.

"Nah, other people have gone through much worse pain than that. Now let's try out this arm," Ed replied and moved it around, "Whoa! This is so much lighter!" and he flexed his fingers.

"Yeah, which means that it won't weigh you down as much, and hey, maybe if you're lucky you'll grow!" she smirked.

"That's not fair! You shouldn't be allowed to take the piss out of my height after I've just had an automail arm put in!"

"So, what do you think? Am I good enough to fit you with a leg too?"

"Well possibly, it depends on what your rates are, and how long this arm will last. I warn you, I tend to break them quite easily," he started but stopped when some metal came into contact with his head, causing him to fall to the floor with a large thud, "What the hell was that for?"

"You won't break it, because if you do, I'll kill you!" She threatened and he nodded in terror.

"Good. Now that that's sorted, let's fix you up with a leg."

**a/n a short and sweet note: please review and but don't leave pointless, mean reviews, they don't help me but they do make me sad.**

**Thanks**

**Love you all**

**xxxx**


	6. Evil eye plots and persistent Heads

Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist**

"Riza." A voice behind her announced and she sighed, recognising the voice. Without stopping she carried on walking with a little more speed in her step.

"Riza… RIZA HAWKEYE!" The voice yelled and Riza stopped in embarrassment. Roy Mustang's outburst had caused all the people around them in the school to stop and turn towards them.

"So, Riza how was your first day?" Roy asked, as he caught up to her.

"It was fine… Why?" she replied looking at him suspiciously.

"I'm just curious. So, how were the children? Did they like the shooting lessons? I'm sure they would, as you were teaching them." He winked at her and she sighed.

"Sir, if you had been paying attention, you would remember that I told you this morning that I changed my mind and that I wouldn't just be teaching them shooting. I'm teaching them self defence in general."

"Right, right, of course."

"Well, this is my stop, goodbye Sir." Riza turned away but Roy had put his hand out and grabbed her arm, spinning her around.

"I told you to stop calling me Sir." He murmured playfully in her ear and for the first time in her life, Riza's breath caught painfully in her throat stopping her from making any fast witty retort. "What's this? Cat got your tongue?" He smirked.

As suddenly as it had happened, the spell Roy held over Riza was broken and Riza regained the use of her voice.

"Sir, that was HIGHLY inappropriate and I would prefer it if you stopped it." she breathed out, as if trying to catch it; and Roy grinned before backing away from her while holding his hands out.

"I'm sorry then. How about a drink to make up for it?" he asked, smiling innocently but she frowned. "Or not then… Well, I'll see you tomorrow then." And before she could answer he leaned over and kissed her cheek quickly and walked away leaving her in silence on her doorstep.

# # # #

"Ed, where have you been?" Al asked, as he and his girlfriend Kara sat on the sofa in front of the television.

"Oh, the new teacher Winry broke my automail arm, so she said that she would fix it." Ed explained, flopping onto the sofa next to Al.

"And… that took five hours?" Kara asked wiggling her eyebrows expectantly.

"No, but instead of fixing it, she just gave me a new one." Ed said and rolled up his sleeve to show off his new automail arm.

"Wow. She's done a much better job than that other guy." Al commented while turning over the arm and inspecting it deeply. He looked Ed in the eyes and Ed's eyes wondered to his left leg. Al raised his eyebrows and Ed nodded making Al grin.

"What are you two talking about?" Kara asked smiling.

"Nothing, we didn't say a word." Al replied grinning.

"I know you didn't. But you had that understanding gleam in your eyes where you talk to each other with just looks and I hate it. It makes me think that you're planning some evil scheme…come to think about it, I wouldn't be surprised if that's what you were doing. It shocks me that you two haven't destroyed anything yet," she said.

"We weren't doing anything. You're so paranoid Kara." Ed replied laughing. Kara gave him a playful shove on his arm.

"So what are we watching?" He asked.

"_You're _not watching anything. You have those papers to mark that were meant to be marked and handed in _last year_ but you didn't do it." Al explained.

"Oh yeah, Roy was pissed about that wasn't he?" Ed replied gleefully.

"As was your class and their parents." Kara chipped in and Ed frowned.

"But we don't care about them. Pissing Roy off is too much fun!" He said with a evil grin.

"Brother…" Al sighed, "Next time you try and annoy the Headmaster, maybe you could not get other people involved."

"Maybe." Ed agreed, without making any promises.

"Right," Kara got up and made for the door, "Al I'm going to go. I have a load of assignments for tomorrow to set my class."

"What is it on?" Ed asked and Kara smirked

"Why do you care? You wouldn't understand it." She replied. Ed grinned arrogantly.

"I might." However once she started to talk about 'How a Glacier is formed' Ed cocky grin slowly faded.

"I thought you wouldn't. Night Ed, Al." She smirked and gave Al a quick kiss on the lips before grabbing her coat and leaving the apartment.

"So let's see your new leg then." Al said and Ed rolled up his brown trousers up to his knee where the automail finished.

"It's so much lighter. And Winry said that I might actually grow now that it's lighter." Ed said excitably.

"So, what's Winry like? I haven't actually met her yet."

"She was in the staff room this morning." Ed said.

"I know but some stupid kid shoved a violin bow up his…" Al started and Ed burst out laughing. "NOT THERE! No, he got it stuck up his nose!" Al exclaimed.

"You have the worst job EVER." Ed grinned.

"Look, I like helping people."

"Yeah, but as the school nurse…" Ed started but received a death glare from Al. "Doctor. I mean Doctor. Anyways as the school doctor you don't get to do any major helping. Like, saving someone's life, helping. It's just regular doctor position. No offense or anything." Ed finished carefully, not wanting to upset his brother.

"Don't worry I know what you mean. I'm not sure I would be cut out to be one of those doctors. Anyway, back to the point, what's Winry like?" Al asked for what felt like the hundredth time.

"She's alright. I mean she's violent as hell though, she hit me around the head with a wrench! And worst of all, when we first met she thought I was a student, not a teacher!" Ed said with irritation leaking in his voice.

"Ah yes, Kara told me that," Al said sniggering as Ed growled, causing Al to stop and start coughing.

"Yes, well she made up for it by giving me a new automail arm and leg." Ed finished a bit stiffly.

"You told her about the leg as well then?"

"No, she guessed." Ed said as he took out a couple of workbooks from a filing cabinet in the corner of the room and blew the dust off them. "She's pretty good to have guessed."

"Yeah, and I meant it when I said that she did really well when she made it. I don't know much about automail, but I know this is better than that last piece of junk." Al said as he stared more at his brother's automail arm.

"Well anyways, hopefully if she's telling the truth then I won't have to have it replaced so often. She said it would help me grow… as the last lot was dragging me down. Isn't that great?!" Ed said excitedly.

"Yeah, you said that already, that's awesome. But what about _you and her_?" Al asked.

"What about me and her?" Ed asked, but Al merely sighed.

"Nothing, don't worry about it." Al started but stopped when he saw Ed, "What are you doing?" Al asked a little nervously.

"I'm marking, obviously," Ed replied.

"You're not even reading the work! You're just giving everyone an A, except Mei and Fletcher, who you've given an A plus!" Al exclaimed.

"Well they always get an A plus, so I don't have to read it to know that they will pass this too." Ed explained a little impatiently.

"But what about the rest of them?" Al asked, slightly annoyed at his brother's lack of caring.

"Oh they won't care, most of them will just throw this book in the bin, there's no reason for me to waste my time reading through them." Ed explained.

"You're turning more and more like Mustang each day," Al muttered and Ed looked up.

"What!" Ed looked as if he'd just been given the biggest insult.

"Nothing, nothing." Al said as he turned away.

**a/n hey all! sorry this is late I've been really busy lately, mainly because I've just had some synthetic dreads put in (they're kinda like Izumi's but fake and blonde) and it's taken a while to get used to sleeping in them, which meant I didn't have the energy to writ this. Sorry!**

**xxxx**


	7. Déjà vu's and sexist automail

Chapter 6

**a/n lots of apologies. Firstly sorry but my beta has gone on holiday till September so this isn't beta'd and also sorry this is late. I've been on holiday and then got ill. Still not feeling great and had to go to the doctors yesterday and have to have further tests done tomorrow. So please don't be mad, please. Sorry again xxx**

**Disclaimer: I do not own FMA.**

Riza yawned and opened her windows to an orange sunrise, causing her to rub her eyes from the bright light of the sun.

Walking into the kitchen to make herself some toast and coffee, her mind drifted towards the day before and of a particular onyx haired man. She was unsure of what action she should take with the Headmaster's persistent requests to date her.

She was sure that any woman would drop everything to date him; he was good looking and charming which most women looked for in men.

However Riza was only irritated by his advances, which made her feel insecure and paranoid. 'Is he actually intending to date me, or is it some big joke?'

Taking the lightly browned toast out of the toaster and putting on some low fat, unsalted butter, she ate her breakfast before serving Black Hayete with his. However only giving it to him after his usual routine that she made him do, which consisted of her telling him to sit, lay, roll over and then shake her hand with both paws, which he followed obediently before eating his food greedily.

Having a quick shower she changed into a black knee length skirt, a white shirt and a cardigan, before tying her hair up into a neat bun.

She brushed her teeth, picked up her briefcase and walked out of the apartment, after giving Black Hayete an affectionate rub and glanced at herself quickly as she left for work.

"Miss Hawkeye!" A loud voice called from behind her and for a second she had a Déjà vu; 'Didn't this happen yesterday? Oh please not again.'

However once she had turned around she came face to face with a dark haired man, wearing a polo-neck jumper, some trousers and a pair of thin wired glasses.

"Hello, do I know you?" she asked.

"No, but Roy should have introduced us ages ago. I'm Maes Hughes; I'm the Deputy Head."

"Ah I see. Yes I would have thought that we would have been introduced before I got the job," Riza replied.

"That's Roy for you. He didn't find it necessary to even tell me we were hiring new people. I was walking around this morning and tried to give the new mechanics teacher Winry Rockbell a visitor's pass, not knowing that she was teaching here."

"Ah, I'm surprised that Mr. Mustang didn't tell you. It's quite an important thing to do, hiring new teachers."

"I'm not. He's always like this. Actually, what I'm amazed at is that he could even be bothered to do the interviews for the new teachers. I'm normally the one that does all the paperwork and…well all the work here, I guess. Well, I thought I might give you my own quick interview, is that okay?"

"Yes, certainly," Riza replied and Maes nodded.

"So, why did you apply to teach here?"

"Well, I worked in the military as a First Lieutenant but I decided that I wanted a change and chose to become a teacher. I think I had been in the army for long enough. I had been in there since I was 17," Riza explained.

"Well, the army can be hard on some people."

"Well, I enjoyed it but…" she started but trailed off.

"Well, are you enjoying teaching here?" he asked.

"Yes, I was worried that I would have to discipline the children strictly, but they are all so well behaved it doesn't seem necessary."

"Good. Well that's it then."

"That's it? No more questions?" Riza asked, amazed that his interview only consisted of two questions.

"There are more important things to talk about. Such as," he started to rummage around in his pocket, "My daughter who is turning 7 in a couple of weeks!" he exclaimed, holding out a photo of a little girl, who's blonde hair was in small pig tails and who was clinging tightly to a giant teddy bear. "Isn't she adorable? Elysia she's called. You know what; she comes to school here so you can meet her. She's not old enough to take the self defence classes, so we can go to lunch together first and then go and see her later and I can introduce you."

"I'm not sure I…" she started but got cut off.

"Brilliant! I'll see you and Roy in the Staff Room for lunch." And before she could try and decline he had run off in the direction of the Head's office.

* * *

"Winry! Hey Winry!" a voice yelled loudly and Winry turned around to see Ed walking over next to a taller man, with short sandy coloured hair and gray eyes.

"Hey Ed, how are you? How's you arm?"

"I'm good and it's amazing! It's so much better than before, and the leg is so much easier to lift because it's so light," Ed rambled excitedly but was interrupted by the person next to him giving a small cough, smirking at him slightly. "Ah, Winry this is my brother Alphonse. He teaches biology and is the school doctor here. Al, this is Winry Rockbell the mechanics teaching and my new automail mechanic."

"Nice to meet you, but call me Al."

"You too," she replied and turned to Ed. "Does this mean that you'll use my automail from now on?"

"Yep. It's the best around. Who would know that a girl could produce such good automail," Ed started but got cut off when Winry smacked him painfully around the head with a wrench, causing him to fall to the ground.

"What does it matter that I'm a girl?! Obviously all the automail you've had before was made by men, and that's all been useless. So we're going to assume that a girl's is better than a guy's!" she yelled, "If you make another comment like that then I'll take that automail off you and never be your mechanic again!"

Ed looked at her, fear filling his eyes and he nodded quickly. Even Al nodded even though he had no input to the conversation, and Winry gave him an odd look.

"Right, well let's go," she announced and walked off, leaving Al to shake his head and put a hand out to Ed to pull him up.

"Wow, well she's…eccentric. Good luck with her," Al said as they walked to the Staff Room.

"You do realise that if I break my automail then she'll kill me!" Ed exclaimed and Al grinned.

"That might be a good thing, it'll stop you being so reckless with it," Al replied.

"I know, but keeping it intact is so hard!"


	8. Knock and Run

Chapter 7

**a/n I've changed it so Havoc is the secretary not Fuery, but you'll find out why later on.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist**

Winry and Riza had been in the school for over 2 weeks, and all the worries that they originally had did not matter, as they fitted in perfectly. Winry had become especially good friends with Rose, which was an odd friendship as the two girls were very different.

She also became very close friends with Ed, who thought it was completely necessary to give her every little detail about his automail, which Winry was very enthusiastic about hearing, as she loved to hear people other than her Grandma appreciate her work.

Riza on the other hand became friends with Fuery and Armstrong. Roy continued to make advances at Riza to her annoyance and every time he was refused.

"Right, okay kids. Now I want you to go and get the magnifying glass and-," the sound of a shrill bell rang in the hall way, "There's the bell so for homework I want you to write down all the differences you would find between an animal cell and a plant cell." Al called after his students as they began to pack their bags.

Packing his stuff into his briefcase after writing down the homework he had given the children, he stopped when he heard a small knock on the door.

Stopping and walking over to the door, he heard a harsh laugh and the sound of someone running away.

Opening the door to chase the annoying child that had just done knock and run on his door, he ran out and ran straight into someone.

"Oh, I'm sorry I really didn't see you there. I'm so sorry," Al hurriedly said, standing up and putting a hand out to pull up the person he had accidentally pushed to the ground.

"Hey, why are you running out in such a rush?" Winry, the person who he knocked into asked and Al smiled at her.

"Someone knocked on my door and then just ran away."

"I hate it when people do that, though that's weird as I didn't see anyone," Winry grinned.

Al shrugged, giving up on the child that had caused him to bang into Winry. "What are you doing for lunch?"

"I said I would go with Ed and Rose, but would you like to come along. I'm sure they wouldn't mind, unless you have somewhere else to go," she said smiling as the two of them walked away once Al had gone back and locked up the science lab.

"Well, I normally go to lunch with my girlfriend Kara, you know the person who teaches geography here? But if she can come along, then I'm sure she won't mind and we can all go to lunch together. I never get to go to lunch with Rose, so it might be nice to see her," Al said thoughtfully.

"Awesome, well everyone's in the Staff Room, so we're going to go there and then get lunch, okay?" Winry explained and Al nodded.

They walked towards the Staff Room, talking about the school and the children.

"Finally! We've been waiting for _ages_! Let's go already!" Ed complained at Al and Winry when they reached the Staff Room.

"Okay, okay. Calm down," Winry replied smirking and Ed frowned.

"Look, I'm hungry. I've been waiting for ages," he replied.

"Ed, you've been waiting like 5 minutes, stop exaggerating," Winry corrected.

"Come on, let's go," Kara said, rolling her eyes.

* * *

They all walk towards the staff dining room, talking and laughing; Rose talked to Ed trying to convert him to Christianity, while he tried to escape. Al talked to Kara and Winry, and Winry laughed at Ed for being stuck with Rose, having her religion talks.

"Sorry, you four are allowed in, the blonde shorty there with the waistcoat isn't allowed," A voice said and all five stopped.

"What!" Ed growled the anger in his voice coming through. Roy grinned.

"Like I said, students aren't allowed in here, and why aren't you in your uniform?" Roy asked and Ed flipped.

"FOR THE LAST FUCKING TIME, I'M NOT A BLOODY STUDENT!" Ed yelled and no-one could help but smile.

"Ah, so it is Ed, I wasn't sure so I just had to check," Roy smirked.

"Why does everyone seem to think that I'm a student? In the last 2 weeks I've grown loads you know!" Ed snarled.

"Thanks to my amazing automail might I add," Winry piped in. Ed just flashed her a thankful smile.

"I don't know what you're smiling at her for; she's the one that called you a student first," Roy commented and both Ed and Winry frowned.

"I didn't know who he was; he looked much smaller when he was sleeping," Winry started, choosing her words very carefully.

"Exactly, now go off and annoy someone else with your cocky God complex. I'm sure some blind deaf idiot won't mind you irritating them," Ed mocked.

Roy frowned and stepped aside, allowing the five of them to walk past him.

* * *

"God I hate him," Ed announced as he stuffed his face full of food.

"We know, and we understand why, but please don't talk with your mouth full, it's even making Rose lose her appetite," Kara pointed to Rose who had her head down, muttering.

"Look what you've done! You've gone and given her psychological problems! She's mentally scarred by your display of half eaten burger and salad!" Al added playfully.

"Um, Kara, I was praying to God to bless my food. I think that you all should too, it's a sin to not," Rose said.

"I have enough sins already; I don't think that another little one will make much of a difference," Ed muttered and Al gave him a dark look, causing , Winry Rose and Kara to widen their eyes in amazement at Al's strange behaviour.

"Brother…" Al murmured and Ed looked away, his bangs covering his face.

"Anyway," Kara announced loudly, sending Al a death glare, indicating that he would have much to explain later tonight. "What is everyone up to this weekend?"

"I have to finally finish unpacking and go into Central; I have a load of stuff that I need to buy," Winry explained and they all nodded.

"I'm going to visit the East with my Church," Rose explained eating her food, showing that her praying had finished.

"Well, I'm going into town as well, do you want to meet up? I have to buy some shoes and a new suitcase," Kara explained and Winry smiled.

"Wow, going anywhere nice?" Winry asked and Kara blushed.

"Al is taking me to Aquroya before it sinks," Kara explained. "I want to go there… apparently the geographical properties of-," she started but everyone just looked at her in confusion. "It's really interesting… okay? Anyways, how long will it take to clean up your apartment?"

"Well, if I start tonight it should only take about an hour tomorrow morning. So do you want to meet at about 1.00pm tomorrow?"

"1.00pm? I was thinking more like 10.00am… Can't you make it any earlier? You said it would only take an hour," Kara asked.

"I don't do mornings. They are evil, I hate them. Trust me; you're lucky I'm getting up before 2.00pm during the weekend."

"Fine, well I have some other random chores I need to take care of-," Kara started, but Ed, who had been silent for the majority of the conversation cut in.

"Shit you guys, have you seen the time? We have five minutes to get to class!" he exclaimed and everyone looked in confusion at their watches.

"Oh my gosh, I have to get to the other end of the school! I'll see you later!" Rose said, and ran off to the R.S department. The rest of them said hurried goodbye's and left with similar excuses, all four running off in opposite directions; to the chemistry department, to the biology department, the geography rooms and the mechanics room.

**a/n sorry this is late, I've been visiting my Grandma and it's all been a little chaotic…**

**I've also been meaning to say thanks to:**

**SilverStarlight7, FoxFire Pheonix, foreverforgotten5, Chamina, ChocolateCoveredTelephonePole, ShadowLigar, L is 4 LOVE, xless.then.three, HarunoRin, Vincent Quicktrigger Valentine, Arden Anam, Evangeline Jr. You guys are awesome.**

**Loves**

**xxxx**


	9. It's the Weekend!

Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist**

Winry looked around the room, sighing about the tidying up she would have to do. If there was one thing she hated more than anything, it was cleaning and sorting out her things.

Pilling her things into sections for each room, she put them into each room and started to unpack.

A shrill ring from the phone interrupted her and she jumped up in shock at the noise.

Running over to answer it before it stopped she picked up the phone.

"Hello?"

"_Winry it's me," _a voice said down the phone and Winry grinned.

"Granny, how are you?"

"_I am good, though I would be happier if you phoned me every so often."_

"Yeah sorry, it's been chaotic around here. What have you been up to?"

"_Well, not very much, I was just phoning to ask if you wanted to have all your old clients sent over to where you are now."_

"Yeah, that would be great; the extra money would be awesome."

"_Is the pay not very good then? I would imagine it being okay."_

"No, they pay is fine, but it seems that I need quite a lot of things and more money would be useful."

"_Well okay, that's all I wanted to know. I'll speak to you later." _And Pinako hung up, leaving Winry to start unpacking again.

* * *

"Ed that was stupid. You shouldn't have said that," Al growled and Ed frowned.

"Look Al, don't start okay. Nothing happened and no-one said anything. Just let it drop," Ed replied, flicking through some books on the table.

"No, can we not talk about it in front of other people please. What would have happened if Kara had found out?"

"You mean you haven't told her? You've been dating for nearly half a year!"

"I know, but it's not the kind of thing you tell people very easily. Look, I won't go on about it, just can we not bring it up in front of people again, okay?" Al said and put down the dinner he had been making for Ed and himself on the table.

"Okay," Ed murmured between mouthfuls.

"So what are you up to this weekend?" Al asked and Ed looked up.

"I'm doing what I do every weekend."

"Ed, you should have a break. You don't have to work on it all the time."

"Al, you want to go back to normal, right?"

"Yes, but…" Al started but trailed off, knowing he would not win against his stubborn brother.

"What about you?" Ed asked

"I'll be working with you, obviously." And Ed nodded before they fell into a comfortable silence, eating their meal, both deep in thought.

* * *

"Hey!" Winry cried the next morning and gave Kara a hug as they met outside the main shopping centre in Central.

"Hey," Kara said, hugging her back.

"So, how was un-packing?"

"Boring, I can't stand it. Normally I just shove everything in a corner and that's the end of it, but this time I thought I should probably unpack properly."

"Yeah, so shall we go?"

The two girls walked around, talking about anything and everything.

"So, what was up with yesterday?" Winry asked as they walked into a clothes shop.

"What do you mean?"

"Ed said something and Al looked like he could have killed him, what was up with that. I mean, I've only just met Al but from the little time I have known him that doesn't seem like something he would normally do."

"I don't know. There's something between Ed and Al that no-one knows. Some sort of mysterious past that they won't talk about. Al hasn't told me about it yet, but I know some day he will, and I'm just going to wait till then," Kara explained and Winry frowned.

"Aren't you mad at him for not telling you?"

"Sometimes, but then I think that it must be really hard for him so when he does tell me it'll be okay, because then I know he really trusts me."

"I see, how long have you been dating?"

"About 6 months, but Al's been trying to tell me something recently, so I believe it might be that."

"Yeah, I guess."

"Winry, don't push Ed and Al to tell you; they will when they're ready. I don't think it's something they can just tell people without definitely trusting them first."

"I hope Ed can trust me to tell me what it is; I think we seem to be getting along quite well,"

"Yeah, I've noticed that," Kara said, smirking.

"What?"

"Well, you two just seem to get along pretty well."

"Oh not like that, we're just friends," Winry replied, picking up a top and holding it against her body."

"Yeah, of course. For now you're just friends, but what about later on? And no, that top has a horrid back."

"We wouldn't date."

"Why?"

"It would just be weird, he's…" she started but trailed off, "I don't know, but I just can't imagine myself with him. I don't really know how to explain it."

"I get what you mean…I think. But don't feel pressured to date him or anything."

"Okay, but I'm not in denial, I honestly don't 'like' him."

"Sure, okay," Kara said shaking her head. 'It's only a matter of time' she thought to herself, grinning.

* * *

"Ed, I have to tell you something," Al announced that evening as they were sat in front of the television.

"Uhuh."

"Well you know Kara and I have been dating for 6 months and I'm taking her to Aquroya next week," Al started.

"Yeah," Ed said, and knowing that the conversation would be important he turned of the T.V so he could give Al his full attention.

"Well, I've been thinking about what you said earlier; I think I might tell her."

Ed didn't need to ask about what; he knew full well.

"Do you love her?" He asked and Al nodded enthusiastically.

"Have you slept with her?" Ed asked and Al blushed.

"Well, I love her."

"I'll take that as a yes," Ed concluded. "Well, are you sure she'll love you even after you tell her about it all?"

"Positive."

"Then that's fine. You shouldn't have to ask me, it's up to you, you know."

"You have a right to know, it's your secret too."

"Thanks, but it's really up to you," Ed said and gave Al a pat on the back. "Right well I'm going to bed, I'm beat."

"Okay, night," Al said and Ed walked upstairs, leaving Al to think how he was going to explain everything to Kara.

**a/n Sorry if the whole 'secret between Ed and Al' thing annoys you, it kind of annoys me, but it's important for later chapters. Another thing, I'm going to find it hard to update this as often because I've just started school and it's quite an important year so I have to work hard, as passing my exams comes first and unfortunately writing this story comes second.**

**Loves**

**xxxx**


	10. The terror is coming

Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist.**

Roy walked into his office, yawning loudly. Sitting down at his desk he cursed at the surrounding chaos and attempted to sort through all the paper work but stopped as he picked up a sheet of paper he hadn't noticed before.

"Oi, Havoc! What's the date today?" He called out of his open office door and looked up as his secretary popped his head through the door.

"It's the 22nd of September. Why?" he replied but Roy said nothing except the obvious 'Oh shit,' under his breath.

"What's wrong?" Havoc asked and Roy handed over the sheet of paper.

"Oh shit."

"Exactly."

* * *

Riza walked into the staff room and looked around at her new colleagues and friends.

"Hey Riza!" a voice called and Riza smiled before walking over to Winry.

"Hello Winry, how are you?"

"I'm good thanks, and yourself?" Winry replied.

"I'm very well. How are you enjoying it here? You're the only person I can relate to, as we're both new."

"Oh it's awesome, stressful as hell but awesome, none-the-less. How about you?" Winry explained and Riza opened her mouth to reply but was cut off by the door to the staff room flying open and the Headmaster storming in.

"Everyone sit down and shut up…NOW!" he yelled and everyone stopped talking, turning to face him. "Okay, I didn't know this until just now, but I just found a sheet of paper on my desk, confirming the inspection of the school."

"Let me guess; it's been there for ages but because your desk is such a mess you never even noticed it," Ed called out and Roy growled.

"I'm working on the desk now Fullmetal Shrimp, so shut up."

"Let me guess; that's where Havoc is now, and I'm not a shrimp!"

"Right, well anyway. Ms Armstrong is coming to look around the school in," he looked at his watch, "30 minutes."

"Ms Armstrong?" Fuery asked. "As in -"

"My sister, Governor of the school, Olivia Milla Armstrong," Alex Luis Armstrong cut in and all the teachers, with the exception of Riza and Winry, shuddered.

"What's wrong with Ms Armstrong?" Winry whispered to Al.

"She's terrifying. Trust me; don't get on her bad side," Al whispered back and Winry nodded.

"Right, everyone line up. I want to see if you are presentable. If this inspection turns out okay then I might be pushed up to Headmaster **and **Governor of the school, which would mean I would get a much bigger pay rise."

Everyone sighed and Roy walked up and down the line, looking over his staff to make sure they look presentable.

"Ed, do you have a jacket?" he asked as he walked past Ed who was dressed in his usual trousers, white shirt and a waistcoat.

"Yeah, back at my apartment. Why?"

"Go get it. You can't be seen in just that shirt, it looks scruffy," Roy explained and moved to inspect Winry stood next to him.

"Hey wait! I'm not putting a jacket on, it's boiling here!"

"Look Ed, I don't care. Put one on now or you'll lose your job," Roy threatened and Ed growled before leaving the staff room, muttering about how he would wear a jacket if 'The Jackass' would fix the heating.

Everyone else passed the quick inspection by Roy except Maes, who was sent back home for wearing a pink jumper again, as Roy said that Olivia would hate it and could give the school a bad name.

"But there's nothing wrong with wearing a man wearing pink!" he exclaimed but still got sent away, and returned later with Ed. In they walked, Ed wearing a black jacket and Maes wearing a baby blue jumper this time.

"Right, everyone you better pass this test or else you're fired. Only show her your best student's exercise books and please don't lose control of the class. I better go, I need to meet her at the front entrance in 5 minutes and I can't be late," Roy told the teachers and ran out of the staff room to meet the inspector.

"So, is this inspection important?" Riza asked Maes.

"Well, honestly yes it is. Governor Olivia Milla Armstrong will report this directly to the President King Bradley," he replied.

"The President King Bradley? But I thought the president was -,"

"Not the president of Amestris. No, the president of NUT," Maes said but stopped when he saw Winry, who had just joined them, give him a confused look. "'National Union of Teachers,' NUT."

"Ahhhhh," both women replied.

"Right we better head off to class," Maes told them. "Hey guys! Come on, class will start in 10 minutes and I don't want anyone to be late!"

"You're starting to sound like Mustang," Ed grumbled. "You really are spending too much time with him, stop being his friend; he's a bad influence on you."

"You're starting to sound like my mother," Maes countered.

"I'm just saying; you can still go back to being a good guy, so stop being his friend."

"What about Roy, can't he be a good guy sometimes?" Winry asked.

"No chance; that's guy's a jackass right down to the bone, that guy hasn't got a hope in hell of ever being good," Ed explained and Winry and Maes rolled their eyes.

"Come on Brother, let's go," Al called and the two of them left, Ed giving Maes and Winry a quick wave without turning around.

"Hey Winry, let's go; we're both going in the same direction, right?" a voice called out and Winry turned to face Kara.

"Sure, alright."

"So, have you met this inspector woman then?" Winry asked as they walked to their classrooms.

"Yeah, last year when she came to look around. It was my first year here and I was terrified. She said some rather harsh things about me, but Al comforted me, which is part of the reason we got together in the end," she replied.

"Ah, I see. So what do you think she'll say this time?"

"I don't know really. Just don't let her intimidate you, that's my only advice." They stopped outside Winry's classroom and said their quick goodbye's before Winry walked in.

"Good morning class," she called out.

"Good morning Ms Rockbell," they chimed back and she smiled.

"Right, so how was the homework I set last week. It's all been done I hope."

"Ahhhh Ms Rockbell, it was SO HARD!" the children cried and Winry smiled.

"Well, if you've done it then hand it in at the front. If you haven't done it come forward and give a reason why you haven't." All the children stood to rush forwards, books in hand however stopped and sat back down again when the door to the classroom opened widely.

Winry turned her head to see Roy and a largely built, giant of a woman enter the room.

"Ms Rockbell, I'm Ms Olivia Milla Armstrong and I'll be inspecting your class for a short while," she announced and Winry nodded, terrified.

**a/n sorry i know this is late but as i said before i'm back at school now and apparently teachers find it amusing to overload me with work**


	11. An inspector Calls part 1

Chapter 10

**Sorry this is late; it's been a hectic week.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist**

_Winry turned her head to see Roy and a largely built, giant of a woman enter the room._

"_Miss Rockbell, I'm Ms Olivia Milla Armstrong and I'll be inspecting your class for a short while," she announced and Winry nodded, terrified._

"So, um…what are you going to be doing exactly in my lesson exactly?" Winry timidly asked.

"Well, I'll just look at a few of the students books and watch you teach for a couple of minutes. Now start teaching like you would normally, we're wasting time with all these questions," she replied harshly and sat down at the back of the class with Roy next to her.

"Okay, well I firstly want you to read through the first sheet while I go around and check that everyone has done their homework and then we shall go through the questions on the second sheet," Winry announced, getting the class's work out of her bag.

The children murmured in acceptance and Winry walked around the classroom, handing out two sheets of paper and checking the children's homework.

Glancing over her shoulder as Ms Olivia Milla Armstrong walked over to her, she nodded her head to the child and turned around.

"Do the children always do their homework and if they don't, how do you discipline them?" She asked and Winry walked over to the next child.

"Well, normally I would allow them to have three chances before I give them an after school detention, which scares them enough. But so far I haven't had a child who hasn't done their homework."

"So you don't use force then," Ms Armstrong concluded and Winry shook her head.

"Shame; it's the best way to get children to pay attention."

Winry, unsure of what to say in response to the declaration of child abuse just to get a child to do a 20 minute piece of homework, did the only thing she could think of doing. She left the inspector and to continued to check over the children's work while deciding that she would never resort to hitting a child to get them to hand in their homework, as became horrified that the inspector even thought it was a good idea.

She tried as hard as she could to teach the children without getting distracted by Ms Armstrong wondering around the room and looking at the student's work, and true to her word, 20 minutes into the lesson Ms Armstrong announced her departure and loudly left the room, making sure everyone knew she had gone.

"Miss Rockbell, who was that?" one of her students called Clause asked.

"That was the school inspector; she's just coming around to make sure everyone's working well and that you are trying especially hard," Winry explained and a look of concern passed through the class.

"Did we do something wrong?" another student called Salem asked and Winry shook her head, smiling.

"No, of course not. In fact, you were brilliant, that's why I'm going to bring some sweets into our next lesson to celebrate us doing so well, okay?" Winry replied and all the children cheered.

"Right, let's get back to these questions or you'll never have any sweets, ever," Winry playfully threatened and the children immediately got back to their class work.

* * *

"So, what is your role in the school then?" Ms Armstrong asked Maes as they both sat in his office, along with Roy, drinking coffee and showing the inspector all the teachers CV's and identifications.

"Basically, I deal with all the teachers and students applications and CV's, as well as exam boards and end of year exams," Maes explained.

"So you do everything then," Olivia announced and Maes shook his head.

"No, Roy here does the interviews for the teachers, the school time-tables and any building work. He does most things; I just deal with the small, not so important things." Roy threw him a grateful smile and Maes smirked slightly, showing that he owed him massively.

"Right, well I will look over 2 more classes today, one is the new self defence class and then for the other I think I shall watch over the I.C.T class so I can also see what computer resources you have. And then I shall come back again tomorrow," Olivia declared and Roy looked at her in horror before quickly composing himself.

"So, Ms Armstrong, how long will this inspection take?" Roy casually asked, though without showing it, being terrified about the answer.

"Well, I'll be here for about another day. I'm going to see the other classes and also quickly check over the school as a whole. I won't inspect most of the teachers for as long as I did Miss Rockbell. I just wanted to spend an extra 10 minutes to make sure she was the right person for the job. As you saw when we went to visit the geography class, I shall only look over them for about 10 minutes really. I will also quickly check over the school as a whole tomorrow too."

"What does that require exactly?" Maes asked and took a sip of his coffee.

"Well, when I look over the school as a whole, I shall check over what the school building is like, what the boarding rooms are like, and what the food and kitchen is like. For tomorrow I would also like the CV's of all the cleaners, cooks, and repair men. Everyone that works here, basically."

"Yes Ms Armstrong. Now would you like me to walk you over to the self defence class? At the moment it is taking place in the sports hall, however I have checked with the bursary and they have informed me that the school has more than enough money to build a new self defence building, with its own shooting range and boxing ring," Roy told the inspector as they walked down to the sports hall.

* * *

"Right, I want you to push down the barrel of the gun and hold tightly on the handle so the gun breaks and you can see down the barrel," Riza's voice echoed through the hall and the children quickly followed her orders. Soon the sounds of the guns clicking quickly followed her echoing voice.

"Ms Hawkeye!" Roy's loud voice called out from the entrance of the hall and Roy swore he could here the swish of air as the student's heads whipped round to face him.

Seeing her boss and a woman she didn't recognise, she told the children to pair up with the person next to them alphabetically in the register and for them to both go and get 5 pellets each, before walking over to the person she did not know and the person slowly driving her to insanity.

"Sir; to what do I owe this…pleasure." She struggled to find the right word to describe this sudden meeting however decided that it would be best to flatter him rather than tell him to get the hell out of her sight before she stole the gun from one of the children and did something that would probably be called unethical.

"Well, this is Ms Olivia Milla Armstrong, who's inspecting the school so I'm just letting her look over your class; is that okay?"

'No, it's not. It's not any of your business!' she almost said but stopped herself as she realised she would get fired and it would be unlikely that she would ever get a teaching job again. Or any job, for that matter. "I see, well I'll just get back to teaching then," Riza replied instead and walked back to the children, telling them to line up.

"Those guns are the one's that the Amestrian army use, are they not?"

"Yes, Ms Riza Hawkeye worked for the army before she came here and got a discount on them, though they were still very expensive. I'm told they're the best so I don't mind spending a little more on them."

"You must be very rich then, Mr Mustang," Olivia Armstrong commented and Roy laughed before shaking his head.

"No; the school's rich. I'm really quite poor!"

"Well, I'm very rich," Olivia smugly said and Roy frowned before walking over to Riza's shooting range.

"What else do you teach?" Olivia asked and Riza turned away from the children who were shooting at distant targets.

"Well, general self defence and then also shooting and fencing."

"Fencing? Where did you learn how to fence?" Olivia asked.

"When I was training for the army we learnt all self defence. I specialised in shooting but I was also good in fencing too," Riza explained and Roy smiled.

"You know what; I challenge you to a duel," Olivia suddenly announced and everyone went silent. Roy's smile was wiped immediately off his face and turned to a look of terror.

"Excuse me?" Riza and Roy both asked in unison, to Riza's annoyance.

"You both heard me. Fight me now."

Riza looked in amazement towards Roy, looking for some sort of explanation. Rubbing the bridge of his nose Roy let out a loud sigh in exhausted and looked at Riza in dismay. 'Right…useless as usual,' she thought and looked back over to Olivia Armstrong.

"What's the prize then?" Riza asked and Olivia smirked.

Roy's stomach felt like he'd just spent the last 4 hours on some horrid, twisted roller coaster. He wanted her to dual to prove how good the school was, but on the other hand what would happen if she lost? Roy was sure there was only a small chance of this turning out well.

"A dinner at the new restaurant in Central tomorrow night. Roy's treat," Olivia decided and Roy looked up in protest.

"I can't afford that place!" He cried out but neither woman paid him any attention.

Suddenly, while getting the fencing sword off the wall, Riza realised what she had got herself into. One the one hand, she couldn't lose because then she would let down everyone at the school. On the other she couldn't win because then that would mean she'd have to go to dinner with Roy.

Quickly making up her mind she decided that her morals stood with the school and she decided she had to try and win, even if it did mean that she would have to eat out with Roy.

Holding the sword in her right hand, she tested the weight out before coming to the conclusion it was the right sword.

"Riza. Please don't lose!" Roy murmured to her. She nodded silently and walked over to Olivia to start.

"Okay, the first person to hit the other's chest wins. Roy you start us," Olivia called to Roy and Riza. They both nodded in agreed and Riza turned to face Olivia, as she got into her fencing position.

"Ready, go!" Roy called unenthusiastically and before anyone could say anything Riza and Olivia had jumped into battle. It was a tight match, with both Olivia and Riza holding on tightly, however suddenly Riza twisted around and lightly poked the sword into Olivia's chest.

"That was a good match, you were a strong opponent," Riza said as she gave a small, polite bow.

"Yes, it was very close. Well done Ms Hawkeye. I can see that Mustang has at least done something correct if he hired you. I hope you have a nice dinner," Olivia called and put her sword back in its sheath and walking from the room, leaving a bemused Headmaster, teacher and 10 students.

**a/n I don't know if I've got this wrong, but don't different people have different fencing positions? I don't fence myself but I'm sure that's what someone told me…maybe I'm just going mad.**

**This was the hardest chapter to write ever. It's finally done though!**

**Loves**

**xxx**


	12. An inspector calls part 2

Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist**

"How was it for you then?" a voice asked as Ed, Al and Kara walked into the staff room.

"I haven't had her yet; I think she's only inspected the two new teachers, ICT with Fuery and geography with Kara, as she wants to spend the longest on the new people and only had time to do the other two. The rest of us are today, I heard," Ed saw Scar, the languages teacher reply to Rose. No one knew what his real name was. He just developed the nickname Scar (because of the cross shaped scar on his face), and from then on that's what he's been called. Even the children call him Mr. Scar.

"Well, she will only spend a few minutes looking in on our lessons, which is why she can fit in all the teachers today. She spent about 20 minutes in Winry's and Riza's classes, so she'll only spend 5 minutes in ours," Armstrong piped in.

"Shouldn't she spend more than 5 minutes in each class?" Rose asked, as Kara walked over to join the discussion, while Ed and Al followed, nodding in acknowledgment to the people stood talking.

"Yeah, but she judges people on what she sees; her first impressions. She doesn't see the point in waiting to get to know someone," Armstrong explained and Ed frowned.

"She's just like Mustang then; neither of them do their jobs properly," he commented.

Just as he finished his sentence the doors opened again, and before Ed could continue Al elbowed him in the side. Looking towards Olivia and Roy, Ed frowned before sitting on one of the sofas, between Sheska, the librarian, and Riza.

"Right everyone, for those who haven't met her, this is Ms. Olivia Milla Armstrong," Roy announced and there was an awkward silence. "Well anyway, she's inspected Miss Rockbell and Ms Hawkeye's classes, as well as Fuery's and Miss Phillips's classes, so for those of you who haven't been seen, she'll be looking through your lessons for about 5 minutes. Any questions?" There was another long silence, everyone looking to one another to see if they were going to talk.

After a long minute of this uncomfortable silence Olivia nodded and marched out of the room, followed by a grim faced Roy.

"Wow, Roy looked happy," Winry said smirking as she turned back to Rose and Scar. Riza let out a large sigh from the sofa and the faces of Ed, Al, Winry, Kara and Rose turned towards her.

"What's the matter, Riza?" Al asked, his grin turning to a frown as he saw her moping face.

"I have to go out with Roy tonight," Riza explained and there was a silence before Winry and Kara both yelled.

"WHAT?!"

"How the hell did that happen?" Ed exclaimed.

"Well basically I had to have a fencing duel with Ms. Armstrong, and whoever won would have to go to dinner with Roy."

"So you won just so you could date Roy?" Rose asked.

"I did not win so I could date Roy!" Riza snarled aggressively, causing everyone to take a step back. "I had to win for the school. If I lost, the school would get a bad name."

"Okay. Well I have to go, I have a full day of classes today," Ed complained and Al grinned.

"I only have two; one just before lunch and one just after," Al replied and Ed sighed.

"Whatever, I'm off. Bye guys," he called and walked out of the room.

"Hey, are you ready? We should head off too," Rose asked Winry, Kara and Riza.

"Yeah, let me just get my daily caffeine and then I'm set," Winry replied and quickly poured herself a mug of coffee before leaving with Kara, Riza and Rose for her first class.

* * *

By lunch time all of the teachers had been inspected with the exception of Ed and Al, and none of them had a good word to say.

"God, she's so arrogant, thinking she's better than the rest of us," and "She's so mean!" were heard across the staffroom and Winry was glad she already had her inspection yesterday. By the sounds of things, the inspections had got progressively worse as the day trailed on.

Lunch came and went and finally there were only the two people left to see.

The two Elric brothers acted very differently towards the inspections. Al, normally the ever so calm one of the two, fidgeted throughout lunch, only putting a small amount of food on his plate and even then, moving it all with his fork and not bringing any to his mouth.

Ed, on the other hand, acted the complete opposite of his brother, and for a while Winry wondered if he even knew there were inspections happening. It was only when Roy threw a jacket to Ed for him to wear, after breaking into his apartment to get it, did she realise that Ed knew that there were inspections and that he obviously just didn't care.

"Right, I better go. The inspector's coming soon and I need to tidy my science lab up. I'll see you guys later," Al announced after nearly an hour of looking at his food like it was about to explode.

"Good luck!" Kara called after him, and he gave a worried smile before running off towards the biology department.

"Ed, don't you think you should go tidy up your lab too? It's a mess," Kara encouraged as she, Winry and Ed sat at the table finishing off their meals.

"Nah, I like it when it's messy. Its organised chaos," he replied and stood up to leave. "I'll see you two later; I don't need to sort out my classroom, but I do need to fish out the books I marked and forgot to give back." He grinned cheekily and ran out of the dining room.

"I wonder what the inspector will say about Ed's teaching style," Winry commented and Kara smiled knowingly.

"It'll be good. He always pushes his luck with her. He knows that she's annoyed with him for getting such a good reputation as a teacher so quickly, like she is with Roy at getting such a high position in the NUT at such a young age. She can't deny Ed's a good teacher though. None of his students have ever gotten below an A in their finals. He's got this unique way of teaching that just draws the students to learn chemistry."

"Have you seen him teach then?" Winry asked, curious about Kara's knowledge.

"Everyone has, with the exception of you," Kara replied.

"Even Riza?"

"Yep. Why don't you go see one of his lessons? I promise you won't be bored. Ed wouldn't allow it," Kara suggested, smirking darkly, which caused Winry to frown.

"I guess I could go for last period. I'm not teaching and I think he is so I'll go watch. You don't think he'll mind?"

"Mind? Teaching is like acting to him. He loves it, so go right ahead. Go watch and tell me about it tomorrow."

* * *

Winry walked down the corridor, fidgeting as her heeled shoes clicked on the wooden floor.

"Miss Rockbell?" a voice called and Winry turned to face Roy and Ms. Armstrong. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, I was going to watch Ed teach. Apparently he's really fun to watch. But you're going to inspect him so I'll watch another time," Winry admitted and turned to leave.

"No, come with us. You came here to watch him and you shouldn't change your plans just because we came," Olivia ordered and Winry nodded, terrified, before following them to the classroom.

They stopped when they got to the door and without knocking Olivia stormed in; pushing the door so hard it hit the wall with such force that Winry was sure there would be a dent in it.

Winry couldn't help but smile when she walked into the room. The old wooden lab benches and chairs were arranged to the sides, one in front of the other in rows, with a gap down the middle for people to reach them. At the front was a large blackboard, with symbols that meant nothing to Winry written quickly across it. In front of the board was another lab bench, and there sat Ed. She had never seen him look so carefree.

Sitting on his wooden lab bench and desk, disregarding his chair, he grinned at the three of them before pointing to a row at the back of the classroom where Winry, Roy and Olivia moved to sit, and winking at Winry mischievously as she walked past.

Roy frowned as he sat down, obviously taking in his clothing. Ed had put his jacket over the chair, ignoring it and instead just wore his black trousers, a waistcoat and a white shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, revealing his shiny automail arm.

The children looked at the three once they sat down, all attention on the expected guests.

"Okay kids, I know they're strange, but looking and whispering at them won't help them feel normal, so let's go back to the equation for the Haber process. Now, what do I need to do to make this equal?" Ed called out and the children smiled before looking back towards their work. Ed jumped down from the desk, rushed over and started manically scrawling things down on the board. Once he had finished writing a long line of letters, plus signs and arrows on the board he stood back and allowed the class to frown at the equation. Suddenly a hand slowly rose up into the air and Ed grinned. "Yes Elysia?"

"It needs a two at the front of it?" she asked.

"Exactly! The equation isn't balanced, and all equations have to be balanced in some way or another. Awesome answer Elysia," he called back, writing a large two in front of the equation before leaning down and pulling something out of his desk.

Winry, Roy and Olivia all gasped in horror as he lifted up a sling-shot, aimed it at Elysia and lightly flung something towards her. Catching the small item in both her hands she grinned and started to peel off the silver wrapping, revealing itself to be a little chocolate.

"Right, now everyone, open your textbooks to page 168. Now I know this all looks daunting but it's really quite easy. Draw little diagrams for each equation if you have to. Let's go over the first one together." He looked over a girl's book who Roy and Winry knew as Mei Chan before walking back over to the board. "Okay, let's say the ammonia is Roy – I mean Mr. Mustang and the Nitrate is Miss Rockbell. You just have to add the ammonia and the nitrate -" Ed started blurting out instructions and explanations, which caused Winry to become confused in a matter of seconds, though she was slightly annoyed by the fact that a group of children could understand it and she couldn't. Finally after finishing his abstract explanation he left the children to work and walked over to the three observers.

"Having fun?" He asked, grinning

"The way you reward your children in very unorthodox, Mr. Elric," Olivia noted and Ed shrugged. "It would seem nothing has changed with your teaching styles, correct?"

"It's basically the same, I guess. Though I thought up the sling-shot idea the other day. Works a treat, and so far I've only had one casualty, and that was to Sir Idiot of Bones," he replied and pointed to a life size skeleton, held up on a pole randomly placed in the corner of the room. Across his chest was a sheet of paper that had the unmistakable words 'I'm Mr. Mustang and a jackass' written across it however a thin line had been put through the 'Mr. Mustang' so it now read 'I'm Sir Idiot of Bones and a jackass'. Winry couldn't hold back a giggle as she noticed the giant hole right through the skeletons forehead and she wondered what exactly he had aimed at the skeleton. And how hard the object had been fired. Roy however frowned.

"Right, okay, well I think we've seen enough. Ms. Armstrong, Miss Rockbell let's go," he muttered and walked out, closely followed by Olivia and Winry, the latter trying, and failing, to suppress a smirk. Ed gave a wave at them as they left, smiling at his accomplishment of annoying Roy again.

**a/n Hey, isn't this up quicker than last time! I want to thank my lovely new beta, she's been brilliant and taken up the task. Please review**

**xxxx**


	13. Cover lessons and bad reviews

Chapter 12

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist**

To the entire staff of Central Private Boarding School's relief, Ms. Armstrong left early the next morning, and the knowledge that she would not be back for another year put everyone at ease.

That didn't mean, however, that the teachers had forgotten what she had said to them.

Rose had been so upset over Olivia's comments on 'the uselessness of religion', and especially her comments on Christianity. She didn't come into school the next day, and according to Kara, who had spoken to her, she had gone back to her church in the East to pray for Olivia's soul.

Fuery, the Computer Technology teacher, had changed all the teacher's passwords on their computers to 'oliviaisabitch' instead of their original one, putting up a notice in the Staff Room, stating that if anyone tried to change it, he would delete all their work off the computer. No one tried after that.

Al had been rather quiet about the whole ordeal, and everyone noticed his refusal to talk about it. Occasionally he would talk to Ed in a hushed voice in the corner, however, most of the time he was back to his normal self, with the exception of when the subject of the inspection was brought up. In which case he was distant and refused to talk to anyone, especially, Winry noted, Kara.

"When are you going to Aquroya?" Winry asked as she, Ed, Kara and Al sat around a table at lunch. Rose was still absent from school and Roy was starting to get annoyed at her lack of presence at school, much to Ed's glee, who had secretly phoned her and told her to take another couple of days off school.

"Just after school finishes on Friday evening," Kara replied, putting a chip into her mouth and grinning with excitement.

"Now kids, don't get up to anything I wouldn't do," Ed warned, causing Kara and Al to blush, and Ed to receive a sharp smack around the side of his head from Winry.

"Ed, quit teasing," Winry scolded and looked at Ed. She realised how tired he looked, with black bags under his eyes, and though they still shined with playfulness, she noted that they weren't as bright as they usually were.

"You okay Ed?" she asked and he turned to face her, his smile faulting slightly.

"Fine. Just looking forward to the weekend. It's been a long week; Jackass has made me cover Rose's lesson's, which is so exhausting," Ed explained and Winry saw Al flinch. Following Kara's advice and taking in the blatant lie, Winry nodded, slightly annoyed. She knew that she shouldn't ask; she was new and had only known them for a couple of weeks, but she still wanted to know why Ed and Al wouldn't talk about their past.

"I'd better go. I need to get something from the supply closet. Want to come, Al?" Kara announced and Al nodded, picking up his tray and turning around quickly, but he still noticed the cheeky wink Ed gave him as he left.

Once they had gone, there was a silence between the two remaining people sitting at the table.

"So, what you up to this weekend then? You know, with Al gone with Kara and all," Winry asked as she stabbed a tomato with her fork.

"Research," Ed explained.

"For what?"

"My next lesson," Ed quickly replied, stealing one of Winry's chips and popping it into his mouth.

"Don't you have a lesson plan?" Winry asked as she smacked his hand away when he went for another one.

"Yeah, but that was made by the NUT. They've probably got it all wrong, so I make my own instead."

"I guess they're not chemistry teachers, huh. Right well I have to go too, I'll speak to you later," Winry replied and gave Ed a quick wave before running off to start sorting out her own class.

* * *

Winry sighed as she walked into the staff room at the end of the day. Even though she was happy Ms. Armstrong had left, it did mean that she had to give every class she taught sweets. She seriously wondered how Ed could afford it every lesson.

Looking at the teacher's shelves, she peeked into her own and saw a small sheet of paper. Reading it through, she frowned as it asked her to cover one of Rose's lessons.

"I'm going to kill that stupid idiot." She growled as she remembered Ed telling them about how he got her to take time off for longer. Once she checked it against her timetable though, she noticed she had a class.

Grabbing the books she needed to mark she left, heading towards Roy's office, thankful that there was another thing she didn't have to worry about.

Walking into the office, she sat down and waited outside the open doorway as she heard the quick mutterings of two deep voices. Suddenly she jumped at the loudness as one voice yelled loudly.

"What the fuck Mustang?! He could lose his job!"

"Ed, calm down. He won't lose his job; I'm not going to sack him," Roy tried to soothe the obviously angry Ed, and Winry held her breath, not wanting to get caught eavesdropping on their discussion.

"But what if they make you?" Ed asked.

"I'll sack him and then hire him under a different name. Look Ed, the kids love him and he's a great teacher, not to mention a great doctor. I wouldn't let him go for anything. So just calm down, okay?"

"Okay, I'm just stressed. Imagine how Al feels. Look, can you tell him that he won't lose his job? He's terrified he'll have to leave."

"Sure, okay, just go home and get some sleep Ed," Roy advised and they walked out of the office, straight into a wide eyed Winry.

"Um-I'm sorry I just- I came to tell you I can't cover Rose's lesson tomorrow; I'm teaching then." And before either of them could say a word she had bolted out of the door.

* * *

'What have I just heard?' She thought as she ran back to her apartment, though she had only gotten a couple of meters outside the building before she felt a strong grip on her arm.

"Ed, I -" she started but stopped when she came face to face with Roy.

"Er, Mr. Mustang I can explain," she stuttered.

"It's fine, don't worry. Look, please don't mention anything to anyone about what you heard, okay?" Roy asked and she nodded silently. "Al had a bit of a problem with the inspector so he and Ed are worried about his job. I won't let them take it away, just please don't mention to anyone what you heard."

"Sure, I wasn't going to," Winry quickly reassured him.

"Good. Now one more thing. If you happen to see Ms. Hawkeye on your way back to your apartment, could you possibly tell her I'll pick her up at 7.30 on Friday evening?" Winry nodded and Roy grinned. "Thanks. Have a good evening."

As he ran away, Winry decided she would let Roy tell Riza about the time of their date. Winry definitely didn't want to get shot.

**a/n yeah...don't have much to say...i'm too tired, school is killing me! Please review...thanks to my lovely beta...love you all**

**xxx**


	14. Dates and Pickup Lines

Chapter 13

Riza sighed deeply as she looked at herself in the mirror. She was annoyed with Winry's outfit of choice. On Thursday night Winry and Kara had come over, barged into her house, completely destroyed her bedroom by flinging clothes everywhere and then sat on her sofa, gossiping and eating ice-cream until 12.30 am.

Winry's final decision on her outfit had been a thick strapped black dress, coming up to the knee and floating out from the waist with a plain cream cardigan. What Riza didn't understand was why it had taken them 5 hours to reach such a simple outfit.

Putting on the shoes that she had chosen herself (Kara's choice of shoes had been shoes so high that Riza would be about a foot taller than Roy), she brushed her hair and sat on the sofa, looking at the clock, and waited for Roy to pick her up.

Two minutes later (exactly, Riza had been timing him), there was a knock on the door and she opened it to a breathless Roy, dressed in a pristine suit. Looking up from his arm as he caught his breath, leaning against the door-frame he grinned.

"Sorry, I didn't want to be late," he explain and Riza rolled her eyes.

"Come on, let's go."

Riza grabbed her coat and picked up her keys, putting them in her bag before shutting the door, giving the door a push to make sure it had locked.

"So, how are we getting there?" Riza asked as they walked through the parking lot while she eyed up the cars, trying to guess which one was Roy's.

"We're driving, but I didn't want to take my car; I thought you'd hate it. I've borrowed Maes' instead," Roy replied and Riza nodded.

"Which one is yours?" she asked and he grinned, pointing to a dangerous looking sports car. "Okay, I'm glad you've borrowed Maes'. Wait, you're sure you can drive it, right?"

"Yeah, I was practising earlier…I only ran Maes over twice!" Riza stiffened in shock. "Relax, I'm only joking." Riza didn't seem reassured by this however and Roy sighed.

"You better not drive over 30," Riza nodded and Roy saluted.

"Yes Ma'am!"

They opened the door to a plain looking car, nothing like Roy's extravagant one, and Riza quickly put her seatbelt on, giving it a tug to make sure it worked okay.

Roy smirked, but got in too, doing the same before putting the key into the ignition and starting up the car, hearing it give a soft purr.

"You do know where we're going, right?" Riza asked cautiously and Roy frowned.

"Of course I do! What kind of crap date do you think I am?"

"Do you want me to answer that?" Riza snapped and Roy sighed, driving into Central without passing a glance at Riza. 'This is going to be a long evening,' they both thought.

* * *

15 minutes later they pulled into the entrance of the restaurant, the bright, dazzling lights of Central a bitter contrast to the plain, artificial ones of the classrooms.

Roy jumped out of the car before Riza could even take off her seatbelt and opened the door for her, allowing her to get out before shutting it and throwing the keys to a boy stood by the door of the restaurant, who in turn gave him a slip of paper with a number on it.

"Are you sure he works here?" Riza asked as they walked in.

"Nope."

"But you just gave him the keys to the car!"

"It's not my car," Roy grinned and Riza sighed. "Don't worry, I know he works here; he had a badge clipped to his trousers."

They followed the waiter, who led them to a table in the corner of the restaurant, and Roy took the drinks menu that was handed to him.

"I think we'll have a bottle of the house red wine please," Roy ordered and Riza turned to the waiter.

"Can we also have a bottle of sparkling water?" The waiter nodded silently before walking off. The two sat in an awkward silence.

"So, how are you enjoying teaching then? I haven't really asked you yet. I've spoken to Winry about it and she loves it, so how about you?" Roy asked, breaking the silence. Riza let out a sigh of relief that she would not have to start the conversation. 'Though the reason he doesn't know about how I'm enjoying it is because he keeps asking me out,' she thought as Roy waited eagerly for her answer.

"It's great. The children are so well behaved and listen to everything I tell them. I was expecting them to be disruptive and badly behaved, but they're all so good. It's surprising really."

"I know, they are, aren't they? Respect is very important here, but it's not just that the students have to respect the teachers. Respect is a two way street. The teachers have to respect the kids too. I didn't want to start up a school that didn't have respect as one of the most important factors."

"You started up the school yourself?" Riza asked. She was actually amazed by Roy's reply to her answer. It was so honest and intelligent, which she had never thought he would be capable of.

"Yeah. Just after I turned 25, I lost my job in a shop as an assistant. I hated it, but I was still annoyed that I was unemployed. I started thinking about school and what I should've done and then it dawned on me. I didn't get enough guidance. At first I came to the conclusion that I would have done some work if the teachers had respected me, but later I decided that that theory was stupid and I wouldn't have done any work even if they did. I still think it's an important thing though. I eventually decided that I didn't want what happened to me to happen to other people." Riza grinned at Roy's theory and he sent her a lopsided smile back. "I borrowed some money from my foster mother and contacted my old school friend Maes and told him my plan.

"We then bought the building together and did it up, putting all our money and time into it. Finally, it was done and we hired a few friends to teach the basic subjects. Lots of children started coming and we got more and more money. I was able to hire more teachers, allowing me and Maes to stop teaching and focusing more on the more important aspects, like actually controlling the school. A few of years later I hired Ed and Al, and then the next year I hired Kara. As they say, the rest is history." Riza stared in amazement at his determination and dedication to the school. "What?" He asked when he saw her staring.

"Oh nothing, I mean that's amazing though. And you did it all when you were 25!"

"I had a lot of help though. Maes and the other teachers have been brilliant, and I couldn't have done it without Madame Christmas, my foster mother," Roy explained. "Anyway, let's change the subject; it makes me sound a lot better than I actually am." Riza smiled happily at the fact he wasn't going to boast about his achievements.

"So, you're fostered…" Riza started and then trailed off, realising that she might have just brought up a touchy subject.

"Yeah. I was put into fostering as soon as I was born. Madame Christmas has looked after me and some other kids for as long as I can remember. I owe her so much; though she still calls me Roy Boy, even though I'm 30! What about you, any family?"

"Yeah, I have a mother and a father, though I'm an only child. I think my parents were happy with just me," Riza started but stopped when a girl skipped over to Roy and gave him a kiss on the cheek and a hug.

"Roy! Baby how have you been?" The brunette asked and Riza noted her waitress uniform and pinned up hair. 'She must work here…oh no!'

"Laura, I'm good thanks, and yourself?"

"Oh I'm good. Who's your friend?" she asked, glancing quickly at Riza before turning her full attention back to Roy.

"Oh this is Riza; she's a friend and colleague of mine. She teaches self defence at my school."

"Oh, I was going to say that if she was some sort of family then I could have gotten you a discount so your meal would be free. So, is she your sister?" Laura replied, hinting at him to play along.

"No, sorry she isn't," he pulled her down so that her ear was level with his mouth. "I think I'll pay full price today." The girl frowned, but nodded and passed them menus before skipping away again.

"Why didn't you get the discount for us?" Riza asked once the girl was out of earshot.

"What kind of crappy date would do that?" He asked and smiled before looking at the menu, leaving a bemused Riza to glance at him while trying to process everything she had taken in. She had learnt so much already and she wasn't even half way through the date!

* * *

"Okay, how about this one; is that a mirror in your pants? Because I can see myself in them," Roy said smirking and gave Riza a wink, causing her to snort with laughter.

"Please tell me you've never used that one," she replied and Roy was silent for a second. "Oh my God, you did! Did it work?"

"Yep, though I can't see why. It's awful, isn't it? What's the worst pickup line you've ever been hit on with?"

Riza couldn't deny she was having a good time. She had only intended to have one glass of wine and then stick to water, but the wine was so good and it went so well with her food that she ended up sharing the bottle with Roy, causing her to become slightly tipsy.

"Well one guy at the army once came up to me and said 'If you were a bogey I'd pick you first," Riza said and Roy laughed loudly.

"Excuse me; have you finished with your desserts?" A waiter asked and they both nodded.

"Can I have the bill please?" Roy asked and the waiter nodded before whisking their plates away, coming straight back a moment later with the bill.

Roy signed the bill quickly and put his card in the black leather booklet, allowing the waiter to take it away.

"How much was it?" Riza asked, opening her purse to take out some money, but stopped when a hand reached across and stopped her.

"It's my treat." Riza started to protest but Roy simply put a finger to her lips to silence her. "No buts. No gentleman would allow a lady to pay for anything on a date." And when the waiter came back he took his card and stood up to leave. "Come on, it's late and I have a ton of things to arrange tomorrow. We have a trip down to the North in December to get the results of our inspection and I need to arrange transport and hotels, so I have to be awake to organize them." Riza nodded and looped her arm through his offered one, thanking the waiters as they left.

* * *

The drive home seemed much quicker than the drive there, Riza thought, though she hadn't realised how tired she was until she got into the car and put her seatbelt on. Her eyes nearly crashed shut when she leaned back and it took all her energy just to keep them open.

Roy walked her back to her apartment in silence, assuming she was too tired to talk.

"Here we are," he announced and watched her fumble inside her bag for her keys.

"Thanks for a great evening," she replied as she put her key in the lock. "I had a really good time."

"You sound surprised," Roy commented and Riza raised her eyebrows.

"You know what I mean. Anyway, I'll see you on Monday" and she walked into her apartment, giving Roy a quick smile before closing the door.

'See you on Monday,' Roy thought and walked back to his apartment, a huge smile on his face, which not even remembering the cost of the dinner could wipe away.

**a/n Lots of things to say. Firstly, I'm very sorry this is late, I've had mocks and I got stage manager for a theatre production so for the last three weeks they have taken up all of my time.**

**Secondly, this will be my final chapter for a while because I'm going to help rebuild a school in Gambia, and won't be back till the 19****th**** of December. Sorry but I'll update as soon as I can, though that probably won't be till after Christmas. **

**Thirdly, I know it seems a little strange having Roy set up the school at such a young age, but you have to remember that he got pretty high up in the army ranking thingy at a pretty young age so it's kinda justified.**

**And finally thanks to my beta. I must have driven her mad by having the beta'd chapter and not putting it up (from lack of time in all fairness). She's awesome!**

**I really am sorry about all of that! **

**Please review!**

**Love you all**

**xxxx**


	15. Tripping, Marking and Joking

Chapter 14

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist.**

"I'm bored."

"Ed."

"Winry, I'm bored!"

"Ed…"

"But Winry, I'm so bored!" Ed whined and Winry slammed her pen onto the table.

"Yes Ed. You've been saying that for the last hour!" Winry hissed and Ed sighed.

There was a silent pause in the room and Winry sighed in relief. She just wanted to get these books marked and then spend the night inside, curled up in her pyjamas with a hot chocolate and a good film.

At that moment however, she was starting to seriously regret asking Ed if he wanted to spend Saturday with her, since both Al and Kara had gone to Aquroya and she didn't think it made sense for Ed and her to be bored doing nothing _separately. _So instead they decided to be bored and do nothing _together. _

Well, the plan was to do nothing. However, Winry had forgotten about the increasingly large amount of work she had to mark and hand back to her students, so instead she decided that she should probably do that.

"What do you want to do?" Ed asked, tapping his automail fingers on the wooden table. _Clink, clink, clink, clink. Clink, clink, clink, clink._

"Contrary to prior belief, I have books to mark, and surprise, surprise so do you. Don't you think you should do some work."

"I can't; I've left my books at my apartment…" Ed started but stopped as Winry jumped up, stuffed her books in her bag, grabbed Ed by his flesh arm, causing him to yelp in pain, and walked out of her apartment, grabbing her keys as she left.

"Where are we going?" Ed asked.

"To your place. I'm starting to think that you want my wrench to make contact with your head, with you constantly nagging me and drumming on the wooden table with your automail fingers. So instead you can do something productive, like marking some of your student's books. I'm sure they're long overdue anyway."

"Fine," Ed grumbled and shut the door to Winry's apartment after stepping out.

Winry marched over to where she assumed Ed's apartment was, with Ed following leisurely behind her. Soon she slowed down however and allowed Ed to stroll in front so he could lead her to his apartment.

Ed pulled out the keys to his apartment, grumbling about certain 'annoying, bossy girls with wrenches who think they can control everything' and opened the door to his home. He stepped over a pile of coats and Winry followed suit behind him, avoiding stepping on anything in case she broke something that might be hidden beneath it.

They walked into the living room, Winry stepping over more clothes and piles of books. There were masses of books, piled up on the floor in corners with pictures and mugs of tea or plates on them.

'God, this place is a mess,' Winry thought, glancing around the room before seating neatly on the edge of the sofa, opposite the armchair Ed was lounging in.

"Do you want anything? Tea? Coffee? Vodka?" Ed asked, and on the last option Winry started choking on air.

"Vodka? Ed, it's 11.30 in the morning. Why would I be drinking vodka then?" She exclaimed.

"Winry, it was a joke. You know, ha ha. You normally laugh when they say them…or look at people like they've just escaped from a mental institute. You know?" Winry smiled and let out of sigh.

"Sorry, it's been a long week," she admitted, her mind flicking back to a few days earlier when she had walked in on Ed and Roy talking. "A coffee would be great thanks. Milk –"

"- two sugars. I remember," Ed cut in as he walked out of the room. Winry stood up as she heard the kettle start to boil and she glanced around the room, looking at the names of all the books piled up on the floor and in bookcases.

"Hey Winry, your coffee's here," she heard Ed call and she walked across the hallway into his kitchen. The layout of his apartment was almost the same as hers, but mirrored over, and she assumed that they all must basically be the same.

"Your apartment is…" she started.

"Sorry, it's a complete dump. I didn't think that we would be having guests, and the cleaner gave up on us the second week we came."

"I'm not really a guest. But yeah, I can understand why she gave up on you, by the looks of the state of things at the moment."

"It's not normally like this, honestly. Al normally keeps it in organised chaos."

"So at the moment it's just -"

"- chaos. Yeah."

"Well, shall we start marking then? I can't believe how much work we have to do. And it's not just homework. It's class work too!" Winry complained.

"You haven't seen the worst of it. In my class I have people giving me work to mark that they chose to do themselves. I didn't even set them some of the work they hand in to me!"

Winry grinned and walked into the living room so that they could finally get round to doing some marking. Tidying a space for them both to sit on the sofa (and by 'tidying' Ed merely picked up all of the rubbish on the sofa and dumped it on the other side of the room), Ed sat down and pulled out some books from his bag.

"What grade are you marking?" Winry asked as she took her books and her pencil case out of her bag, picking up where she left off.

"10th grade. They're one of my favourites. They work hard and don't give you a load of their bullshit excuses for not doing homework. They're not too cocky, so they don't have major attitude problems, but at the same time have enough confidence to speak up and voice their opinions or what they think the answer is."

"I don't think that's the whole year, because I've spoken to teachers who get hell from every year. I think it's your teaching method."

Ed didn't say anything, but there was a very apparent grin plastered across his face, and Winry mentally slapped herself for helping increase Ed's already worryingly large ego.

They sat in silence, marking the student's work with such concentration that Ed didn't notice how much time had gone by until he put down his books to make himself and Winry a cup of tea and glanced at the clock.

"Hey, Winry look. We've mean marking solidly for 3 hours. That's probably the longest amount of time I've ever spent not talking," Ed said laughing.

"Is it bad that I don't find that hard to believe?" she responded. "Oh, I completely forgot to ask; how's your automail going? It's not jamming is it?"

"No, no. It's working perfectly. The best automail I've had since – well ever, I think. It's so much lighter, and I've grown as well. I'm not sure by how much but I know for sure that I've grown!"

"I've noticed," Winry said and Ed grinned like a little child at Christmas. "Do you want another cup of coffee?" she asked and he nodded.

Winry reached over Ed to reach his mug that was on the little table next to him, leaning across him, stretching in vain for the mug that was clearly out of her reach.

"Winry, let me make them -" Ed started and stood up.

However, Ed standing up caused Winry to lose her balance and fall ungracefully on the floor. Reaching for some sort of support she grabbed hold of the first thing she could, which happened to be Ed's shirt. Winry gave a hard tug as she fell, causing him to fall to the floor with Winry and land with a 'humph' on the floor.

"Owww," Winry heard Ed say, lifting up his flesh hand to see if he had cut it at all. "Winry, are you okay?" It was only then that Ed realised their rather compromising position.

During the fall, Winry had pulled Ed on top of her, so their current position looked anything but innocent.

Winry lay on her back and Ed lay over her, his automail leg in between both of hers, one hand next to her head locked straight and the other arm being leant on at the elbow, causing him to be at a tilted angle over her. Ed's face was in line with hers and it was only then that he saw her blue eyes really close up, looking up at him in bewilderment.

Winry began to blush a soft pink and waited, unable to speak with embarrassment, for Ed to stand up. However, as she waited she noticed Ed move closer and closer towards her.

'Wait, he's moving towards me, isn't he? Or am I just imaging this?' she thought frantically until his nose was almost touching hers. 'Okay, we definitely weren't this close to start with.' Winry turned her head and noticed that Ed was doing the same. 'Oh my God, we're about to kiss!'

'Whoa! What the? No way, is she going to kiss me? She must be joking. She must be taking my joking explanation to a new level or something...' Ed thought manically and suddenly stood up in fear of taking Winry's 'Joke' too far, just as Winry was closing her eyes. This caused her to open them with a jolt as she felt the light pressure of Ed's weight being lifted and heard the solid thud of his feet hitting the floor.

"I'm - errrr - I'm sorry I," Ed started.

"Ummm – I should – umm – I should probably go. I'll – I'll speak to you later," Winry stuttered and bolted out of the door, grabbing her keys and her coat quickly as she left.

It wasn't until she had reached her apartment that she realised that she had left all her books at Ed's.

**a/n OMG! It's been a long time. I thought I'd make this chapter full of EdxWinry goodness as a sorry for taking so long. I've had this idea stuck in my head for ages, but with Gambia, Christmas and exams (I have geography and ICT – agghhh!) I didn't really have time to write it. So slowly** **but surely each night I'd write a little bit and now I've finished…yay!**

**Thanks go to my beta, who beta'd this in less than a day – AMAZING!**

**Please review and sorry again for this taking for long (nearly 2 months – I feel so bad!)**

**Loves**

**xxx**


	16. New Rules and Problems

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist**

Chapter 15

Winry decided to leave it till Monday morning before she even attempted to retrieve her books from Ed's apartment. She was sure it would be just as embarrassing for him as it would be for her, so she thought that as time heals all, she would let it do its healing before facing him again.

Slowly walking to Ed's apartment, she felt as if her legs were made of lead. However, when she knocked on the door she was able to let out a sigh of relief as Al answered.

"Hey," he said, opening the door wide and allowing her to enter. Winry noted that the apartment looked somewhat clearer than on Saturday. Not cleaner, just clearer. "I assume you're here for you bag?"

"Yeah, I left it here on Saturday and I was busy yesterday and couldn't pick it up." It wasn't a complete lie; she was busy – organising her kitchen cupboards.

"You okay?" Al asked and she shook her head to pay attention to what Al was saying.

"Yeah, sorry it's been a chaotic week. Wait a sec, how was Aquroya?"

"It was amazing! You have to go there, and the sights are incredible! You'll have to go soon though, did you know it's sinking?"

"No, I didn't. Maybe when I've got some more money; I'm a little poor at the moment," Winry joked and looked around the room.

"Ed's already gone to work," Al said, reading Winry's mind.

"But it's only seven thirty," Winry stated.

"Yeah, he said he had some books to mark." Winry knew this was a lie but didn't comment. She knew he would try and avoid her after Saturday's incident.

"Shall we walk down together? We can pick Kara up on the way down," Al suggested and Winry nodded. He handed over her bag, then picked up his own, which was situated next to the door and gestured for her to leave first, holding the door open for her. 'God he's so much more polite than his brother' Winry thought, smirking to herself as she left the room.

The walk to Kara's didn't take too long. When they picked her up, Al listening to Kara intently as she animatedly talked to Winry about the hotel and how romantic Al had been, booking them the nicest room there that overlooked the sea.

* * *

They arrived at the staff room just moments before Roy, and they sat down as he read out the notices.

"Rose has come back after a short," he said short in an annoyed voice, causing Ed to snicker and Maes glance at him disapprovingly, "break, so your timetables will be back to normal now. Also the NUT has sent us a notification letter." Everyone glanced at each other in bewilderment and Roy shrugged. "Dear Central Private Boarding School, we have received notice that you have students who are from countries outside of Amestris, such as Drachma and Xing. Following Policy 109 for the Safety of Children, all foreign children must-" Roy stopped abruptly and drew in breath.

"Roy, what is it?" Maes asked. "What does it say?"

"It doesn't matter. It's not important," Roy hurriedly said and tried to put the letter away, only to have it snatched from him by Maes, who had a frown across his face. If Maes was worried, then it couldn't be good news.

"What the hell?" he asked when he had read over the letter. "What are they thinking?"

"What does it say? We have a right to know, tell us!" Riza burst out and everyone looked at her in shock. Usually composed, Riza had a look of fear across her face, knowing that the instructions on the letter could not be good.

"The letter says... It says," Maes tried to say but couldn't seem to get the words out of his mouth.

"The letter says that we have to expel all the students that are not directly Amestrian," Roy cut in grimly and everyone gasped.

"What the fuck?" Ed cried out and for once no one commented on his use of bad language at school.

"We can't expel people just because of their race!" Winry protested.

"It says that we are to put all the foreign students on a train out of Amestris immediately that the NUT has provided," Maes stated. "It's a direct order."

"What shall we do?" Fuery asked and everyone looked at Roy for an answer.

"We're going to ignore it," Roy announced and everyone looked at him in shock. "I refuse to expel anyone without given reason. I've never even heard of this Policy. I won't follow this order until the meeting we have in December with the entire NUT. That's all I've got to say." And with that he stormed out of the room, leaving Maes to trail after him, waving weakly at the entire staff of Central Private Boarding School.

"Roy, what the hell are you thinking? We can't go against a direct order, they could shut us down!"

"Maes, I don't like this. At all. I want you to check this out for me, okay?" Roy asked. It wasn't a command like he normally told Maes to do. He was desperate.

"Look, I don't like this either, but -," Maes started but Roy cut him off.

"If this is right then I want to know why and when this policy came about and why I wasn't notified about it. All headmasters should be notified when there is any change in the Child Safety laws." Maes nodded in agreement.

"Okay, I'll look into it and get back to you when I have any news about what's going on," and with that he left the room, leaving Roy. Roy sat behind his desk and ran his hand through his messy black hair, annoyance and stress taking over his features.

"Sir, can I get you anything?" a worried Havoc asked and Roy glared up at him.

"Havoc, for God's sake –" he started and then stopped mid sentence. He had clearly heard from someone about the letter and was just trying to help. "-could you get me a coffee and the scholarship application forms?" he asked politely instead, and Havoc nodded mutely before leaving the room, coming back almost instantly with both.

'What the hell am I going to do?' Roy thought to himself as he flicked through scholarship application forms for next year. Two thirds of the children applying for a place next year were from outside Amestris and he couldn't chuck them out of school purely because of their race. Everyone had an equal right to education. Like he always said, everyone deserved respect, and how would he show the children he respected them if he kicked them out for something so trivial?

* * *

Maes sighed loudly as he flicked through the hundreds of sheets on his desk.

He had no idea what was going on. Everything he looked at gave him a dead end. There was no evidence to prove the policy even existed, so why were they claiming it did? School had just finished now, so all the children had gone back to their boarding houses for dinner, and still he had found nothing. He was starting to feel like they might have to follow the order.

Struck with an idea, he went to a shelf of books and took one out on the history of Amestris and two maps, one a recent one and one an old one, printed when Amestris was first founded.

Flicking through the book first, he ran his finger down the index until he found the letter he wanted to reach. S. Continuing down he found the reference and page number and flipped through the pages until he found what he was looking for. After scanning for a while he pushed the book aside, holding it open with a photo album of him, his wife Gracia and his daughter Elicia.

He put the two maps side by side and ran his finger along the grid lines until he found the spot he wanted.

"What the hell are they planning?" He whispered aloud and it was as if someone answered him, because suddenly struck with the answer he jumped up, knocking his chair to the floor. "I need to tell Roy."

"You'll do no such thing," a voice surprised him and he looked over to see a woman standing by the door, her long black hair falling over her breasts, which were pushed up by the black dress she was wearing, which Maes was sure was too small for her.

"I recognise you," Maes said and slowly opened the drawer in his desk.

"I've been here a couple of times before; you've even shown me around. Anyway, I'm sorry, but you've seen more than you should have."

"How do you know that?" Maes asked, trying to divert her attention from his hands as he took his two knives from the drawer and tucked them into his belt behind his back.

"We knew that you would be a troublesome school and you would be unwilling to follow the command, so we put some tabs in the school, spies if you will. We needed to know what you were doing and we needed to make sure you didn't find out too much. Clearly we didn't underestimate you."

Suddenly, she pulled a long sword from her boot and stabbed it into Maes' arm just as he threw a knife into her head, causing her to fall to the floor.

He stumbled out of his office and slammed the door shut, collapsing to the floor once he had done.

"Mr Hughes!" a janitor cried as he pulled himself up. "What happened?"

"I've got to go, I'll see you later," he stammered and walked away quickly, hunched over slightly as he clung to his arm. When he reached a public phone in one of the corridors at the unused end of the school, he dialed Roy's number and typed in his personal identity code, hoping he would answer and come over to him, as he was uncertain on how far he would be able to go.

"Well done, for getting so far," a voice behind him said as the phone started to ring.

"Another one of the spies? You look like a janitor here," Maes said and he remembered the green hair of the boy who stood in front of him. 'It reminded me of a palm tree,' he remembered when he first saw him.

"Yeah, unfortunately for you I'm here to kill you."

"I won't let that happen," Maes started but stopped when the janitor held up the picture of his family. "How bad would it be if something were to happen to them?" Maes was about to cry out in protest when he realized what the boy had done, and before he could reach for another knife there was a loud bang and everything went black.

"Hello?" A sleepy Roy's voice answered. There was a silence and Roy looked at whose identity code had been typed in at the other end. It was Maes' code, and Roy frowned, 'Maybe he had found something,' he thought. "Hello, Hughes you there?" More silence and Roy began getting worried. "Hughes!"

**a/n Hey!**

**Now you're going to hate me for two reasons. Firstly, that's a horrible cliff-hanger, huh? Secondly, I won't be able to update in a while…I've been really busy and I'm actually amazed I was able to finish this chapter.**

**Please review,**

**xxx**


	17. Assembly and Drinking

Chapter 16

There was a deathly silence in the school hall. Usually, it was filled with the whispers of students confirming their done homework. But today, nobody said a word, each person filled with horror and shock.

The teachers sat at the back of the hall, all on chairs, a privilege only the seniors normally got, as usually there were only few members of staff present during the assembly so there were enough chairs to seat them all. Today however Roy had to address the entire school, meaning that the seniors were sitting on the floor, along with the rest of the school, while the teachers took their spaces on the chairs.

The majority of the teachers had red eyes, Winry included. Even after being told in the staff room this morning along with all the teachers, janitors and other people working at the school before the assembly to lessen the blow when Roy told the school, hearing it again brought her to tears. The awkwardness between her and Ed had disappeared as Ed had his arm around her waist, pulling her towards him so she could silently sob into his chest. All of the women had cried or were crying, Riza included, and though she was shedding no tears during the assembly, when Roy had turned up at her apartment at 3am and told her what had happened, needing her comfort and support, she cried softly as she saw two tears fall from his eyes.

"I know you all were supposed to be in your dorms at the time, but I want to say that if anyone has any information, then please come forward. You will be in no trouble whatsoever and you won't even have to tell the police. I'm sure I can do that for you." The worst part about it all was that the police had no evidence to be able to accuse anyone. No one held a grudge against him, the bullet had gone straight through him and the person had picked up the shell and bullet after firing. There weren't any fingerprints anywhere and no traces of anyone even being there. The only thing that was certain was that Maes had been shot, and from the angle he was shot at, it couldn't have been himself.

Suddenly a little girl stood up, whom Roy recognised to be a friend of Elicia, her face filled with tears. "Is he alive?" she asked and Roy realised he had to tell them Maes' condition, even though the police advised him not too.

"Maes is currently in a coma. I shouldn't be telling you this, but since he was a friend to all of us," Roy stopped and suddenly took in a large breath. Ed looked up and was about to stand to take over for Roy, who looked like he was about to break down. But he stopped when Roy let it out again and ran a hand through his hair, showing he could continue, "Therefore you have a right to know. We don't know when he's going to come out of it, if he ever will, but he left a family here, and he won't give up on them without a fight."

Next a senior stood up, whom Roy knew as a senior and a Xingian boarder. "What will happen to us?" This question was harder for Roy to answer. He had no evidence to prove it, but he was certain that Maes' attempted murder had something to do with the letter they had received yesterday morning. He had no idea what he had found out, but Roy knew he couldn't let the children leave.

"I think everyone should stay here." This caused all the teachers to stare at him in disbelief. Roy knew he couldn't give the real explanation why he wanted to keep them all here, where they were safe – well safer than if they went back. "Everyone has families, and some of them might not be able to look after you, and Maes wouldn't have wanted it. Everyone will have a week off work, and after a week I'll see whether more time is needed or not."

Everyone murmured in agreement and Ed and Al glanced at one another, knowing that he wasn't telling them the complete truth. While what Roy said made sense, there was something he wasn't telling them. Al glanced at Riza who also had the look of slight confusion in her eyes, but quickly looked away when she turned her eyes to him.

"I want everyone to go straight back to their dorms, if you have siblings here then I give you permission to see them. Otherwise I want the senior head of year prefects to lead them back. Also the entire west wing is now out of bounds until the police report is finished," Roy finished and walked off the stage and out of the hall, the teachers following him in pairs. He couldn't tell them that the police were finishing the report at the end of the day, and would most likely conclude that it was an unsolvable case and close it, due to lack of evidence. He barely had the strength to think it, yet alone say it aloud.

He walked towards the staff room and all the teachers followed him, unsure what to do. As if reading their minds, when all the teachers were inside and the door was firmly shut he looked at them. His eyes were tired and his clothes scruffy, indicating his lack of changing since the day before.

"You can do whatever you like, but I intend to get completely shit faced. If you want to take leave then go ahead. I'll give it to you as paid leave." Everyone looked at one another. "What?"

"Um, Roy. Is that really a good idea?" Kara spoke up, and while she said it quietly and softly, each word cut through the silenced room like a blade.

"Do you not want to get paid?" Roy said as he took out a copy of a large, old leather bound book and opened it, pulling out a bottle of what everyone could assume was a hard whiskey.

"No, but is it really a good idea to drink?" this time Fuery spoke, and a few people nodded in agreement.

"Have you got any other ideas?" Roy asked and the nodding stopped. "Then someone go and get us all a glass. How many of us are there?" He did a quick head count. "Okay there are 18 of us. Can a couple of people get some glasses?"

"I don't drink," some people, including Anna, the English teacher, and Rose said.

"If you don't drink, you're still welcome to stay," Roy commented.

"I'm going to go; I'm don't like people drinking," Anna said and all the people who weren't drinking followed her as she quickly left the room Rose included, who no doubt left to go home and cry.

Roy did another head count and noted 11 people were left. "I'll go," Armstrong offered and as he left Havoc, Kara and Breda followed him to help carry the glasses.

"When will we be allowed to visit Maes?" Winry asked and Roy shrugged.

"Not for at least a week. They're only allowing family at the moment." Ed commented. He knew that already.

"How is the family taking it?" Al asked but no one answered him, and soon enough Armstrong and company came back, glasses in hand and another 3 bottles of strong spirits, presumably brandy and vodka in a carrier bag.

Each person took a glass and Roy poured them all a generous amount of vodka before placing the bottle on the table.

"To Central High!" Breda called out, holding his glass up high.

"To Amestris!" Armstrong added, putting his next to Breda's.

"To Maes," Roy said and clinked their glasses together before taking a shot of the spirit, finishing it all in one go.

* * *

"She likes you, it's obvious," Roy slurred as he poured them all another drink. However much people denied it, alcohol was definitely a good way of getting something off your mind.

"No way, she's way too religious," Ed said knocking back the drink as soon as it had been poured, as everyone else followed, giggling once they had done.

"Seriously, everyone can tell. Ed, Rose likes you – I bet you all my money she does," Riza said.

"I'll keep you to that," Ed said grinning and stood up, waving his arms in a dramatic manner as he spoke.

'Trust him to get all dramatic when he's drunk' Winry thought and giggled aloud to herself before having another shot of the whisky, shuddering as it burnt down her throat.

"She doesn't like me, I can tell," Ed continued and everyone shook their heads. Winry smirked at his obliviousness but stopped when she felt a pang of jealousy. 'What? Why am I jealous?' She worriedly thought.

"She doesn't like me and I don't like her. End of story." Winry smiled slightly after hearing these words. She was relieved she was so drunk because it meant she wouldn't remember having these feelings in the morning. If she did, then she would start to get really worried.

**a/n I updated this way quicker than I anticipated…get me!**

**Sorry this is really angsty, if it is any consolation I found it really hard to write, angst is just hard to write – hence the reason the story is under romance/humour, not romance/angst.**

**Anywho, it gets less angsty, which is good for me and the people who don't like angst, but bad for those who do like it…sorry!**

**Please review, I want to know how I did in this chapter so that I know how to write angst again (I'm sure there'll be angst again…don't know when, just know there probably will be)**

**Loves**

**xxxx**


	18. Bath and Relationship Time Chaos

Chapter 17

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Fullmetal alchemist world.**

It had been over a month since she had felt the first pangs of jealousy, and now Winry was starting to panic. She thought it had been the alcohol, she thought that she would just forget about it the next day. But all the next day brought was a hangover, passed out members of staff on the staff room floor and the same feeling. She had tried to distance herself from him, but of course she had failed. Miserably. Not only had she gotten closer to him, she had even exchanged spare keys with him, so if either of them got locked out they had somewhere they could go.

Now she was sitting on the toilet seat in her bathroom, waiting for the bath to fill so she could have a nice long bubble bath and try to forget about a certain blond chemist who had been filling many of her thoughts (and a few of them indecent ones) as of late. What on Earth was she going to do? She had hoped that all these thoughts she'd been having about Ed would just go away…but they hadn't. They'd stayed, and now she wanted to beat her head stupid with her own wrench to get rid of them.

She stood up off the seat and wandered over to the edge of the tub and poured in a thick silver gel, causing bubbles to erupt within the bath. Splashing the water around so the bubbles thickened, she was just about to take her top off when suddenly the bathroom door flew open and the very person she had been thinking about moments earlier came in. Surprised by the sudden intrusion into her bathroom she lost her balance and flew into the bath, landing painfully on her ass, legs hanging over the edge.

Ed stood, worry clouding his features. He didn't even notice the cartoon action Winry had just performed, and sat on the toilet seat Winry recently vacated.

"Ummmm Ed," Winry started, leaning up on her elbows so she could see him, but got cut off.

"Rose likes me. That kind of like! She told me she loved me!" Ed explained and breathed deeply before resting his head in his hands.

Winry sat up and brought her knees up to her chest, hoping that the bubbles would stop him so seeing her with her wet clothes stuck to her so tightly. She cursed herself again for exchanging keys with him. 'Why would I do that? He evidently has no knowledge of knocking on doors. It's lucky I'm actually dressed. If he had been any later… Oh, I'm so stupid!' she internally yelled at herself.

Realising that she probably looked mentally unstable and that smacking herself with someone in the room was going to cause more problems than solutions, she looked at Ed and sighed.

"So what's the problem with that?" she replied, unsure if she really wanted to hear the answer.

"I don't like her."

"Ah," Winry replied.

"'Ah'? 'Ah'? Is that all you can say?! What am I supposed to do?!" He exclaimed.

"Hey, don't speak to me like that! I was about to have a nice bath until you came and threw all your problems at me."

"Sorry." He sighed in defeat. "So anyway, what should I do? I don't even like her like that, yet alone love her! She even told me that she would happily wait until we were married before 'losing it' together. I've already 'lost it' so why the hell would I wait until marriage to have sex?!"

"Look, what did you say to her?" Winry asked.

"I just told her I had to think about it," he replied and ran a hand through his bangs.

"Well, what are you going to say?"

"I'll just tell her I don't like her that way and that I'm not ready for a relationship yet," Ed decided.

"Are you ready for a relationship?" Winry asked quietly.

Ed seemed shocked by this question. While he'd spent lots of time deciding he wasn't ready for a relationship with Rose, he hadn't even begun to consider about how he felt about having a relationship generally. He had spent so much time with Al trying to sort the two of them out that he hadn't really considered having a normal life.

"I don't know. I have so much going on at the moment, what with school and Al being the way he is," Ed started but stopped abruptly, already realising he'd said too much.

"What do you mean 'Al being the way he is'? What's wrong with him?" Winry asked and Ed waved a hand carelessly towards her.

"Oh it's nothing, don't worry about it," Ed replied and hoped that she accepted his vague answer. She didn't.

"No tell me, what's up? Kara knows something is up, why can't we know?" Winry knew she sounded like a little child, but she was feeling a mixture of worry and interest, and she wanted to know what was going on. They'd been friends for months, so why wouldn't he tell her?

"Winry, it's nothing, just drop it," Ed growled and she saw his eyes flash dangerously. Deciding that Ed killing her for being too nosy probably wasn't going to be that good, she decided to follow his command and did indeed drop it.

"Any news about Maes?" She asked softly, knowing this topic was a delicate one.

"No, he's still in the coma, and he's the only person who knows what's happened. The police have given up."

"I wonder if it's anything to do with the news we got that day. About the boarders having to leave, and everything," Winry pondered and Ed murmured in agreement.

"That's what I thought. Roy feels terrible because he thinks that he's the cause of it all," Ed said and Winry nodded, leaning forward in the bath, causing pink, airy bubbles to rise and nearly spill over the edge.

"Yeah, apparently he asked Maes to look into it and Maes must have uncovered something. I can see why he's blaming himself, but it's not his fault." Ed nodded.

"If he really did uncover information about the plans to take the boarders away it would mean that the NUT was corrupt or something, wouldn't it?" Winry said and Ed shook his head.

"We have no proof that the letter was even from the NUT. It could have been forged. Roy has had Havoc contact them about it, but he hasn't received anything. We have had no call or letter or anything. It just means that Roy is beating himself up even more because Maes understood it and nearly got killed for it, so he wants to know what it was. It must have been a pretty important secret if murder was an option to keep it hidden."

"I assume everyone has told him that it's not his fault, right?"

"Of course. I'm sure Riza has been almost beating it into him, but since he's so bloody stubborn he won't accept it. He's always been like that, which is probably why he is such an ass." Winry smiled to herself. 'Oh he really can't see it.'

"You know, you too are pretty similar," she commented, and Ed's face changed to show his annoyance, his eyes flashing irritation.

"Don't compare us. I'm nothing like that womanizing, arrogant, power crazy jackass!" Ed exclaimed and glared at her.

"It's true. You both are stubborn as hell, you like to make fools out of people and you are both very lazy." He frowned and started arguing back. Winry sighed, knowing she'd never get him to accept the similarities between them. "How did you two meet anyhow?"

"Funny story that it. I lied about my age on an application form for the job, saying I was 31 instead of only being sixteen. I knew they wouldn't take me seriously. I had self taught myself chemistry and I knew that they would turn me down. I wasn't in much of a state to work when Roy finally came to interview me though. And Al had applied for a job too, as a doctor and biology teacher, however he wasn't in a good condition either, to be honest. Roy said some pretty harsh things to me that day; however it snapped me into reality."

Winry stared at him in confusion. It was like only hearing half a conversation. Like listening to someone on the phone, and only hearing one person talk. It was obvious from Ed's reaction earlier that he wasn't going to go into more depth about what happened before he was a teacher, so she let out a loud sigh and gave up

"What about your family? Do you have any? You seem completely at home here, so I assume that you don't have your own house outside of the school, no?" She asked, changing the subject and she saw Ed run a hand through his bangs.

"I don't have any, other than Al of course. My dad walked out on my mum, Al and I when we were only little, and she died a few years later. She had an ongoing illness which we -," he stopped and paused before going on "- we didn't know about until it was too late. She died, probably because of that bastard. He didn't even come to the funeral. I've sworn that the next time I see him I'm going to knock all sense out of him."

Winry thought the sentence through. Why did he pause? It seemed to her he changed what he was about to say. What was he going to say before then? Ed and Al's past was such a mystery, to everyone it seemed except Roy and Maes. Winry desperately wanted to know what the secrets were.

Ed knew that he couldn't tell her the full story. He knew it would be driving her mad, only hearing one side, however he couldn't say anymore. He wasn't like Al. He didn't trust people easily and he knew that although he desperately wanted to tell her, he just couldn't.

"I'm sorry about your mum," Winry said; gently putting one, wet hand onto his. He flinched slightly, before relaxing again and smiling.

"Its fine, it happened a long time ago now. Sorry, this must be really boring for you. I should probably go so I can finish marking some tests. So, about Rose; what do you think I should do, again?"

"Do what you said. Explain to her that you're really sorry and that you don't like her that way, but that you want to stay friends. Explain that you aren't quite ready for a relationship, as you have many things in your life that take up more time."

"Yeah, that sounds good. 'I'm really sorry Rose but -" Ed started practising his speech however Winry cut him off.

"Are you going to leave now so I can have a bath?" Winry asked and Ed finally realised what he had just walked in on. Blushing a bright red colour, he stuttered a quick goodbye and sprinted from her bathroom, and Winry heard a slam of the front door as he left.

Winry sighed deeply, 'I could never have a crush on this weirdo!'

**a/n I'm so sorry! It's been nearly 4 months. I'm so awful, I'm sorry! It's just I had exams, so I had to revise, and a play and then ANOTHER play and then everything went a bit crazy. It's fine now though. I've finished my exams (though I think I've failed them all….) and now I can write more and more. I'm also writing another story, though it's a fictionpress one, which I'm slightly obsessing over, especially since I know what every chapter is going to be like, right until the end, while this one is a little less organised.**

**Also, sorry about the whole mystery thing. To clear things up, Ed has automail but Al has his body, but they both have a secret and there is something wrong with Al….which I'm not going to give away for a while. Sorry!**

**Lots of love**

**Xxx**

**p.s review please!**


	19. A chapter later on story on Hiatus

Hi....

If you haven't gathered this story is basically on perminant hiatus. I know how annoying it is when people do it, and such but I really started to hate this story and it was becoming horrible to write it, which I don't think writing should be about.

Anyway, this is a chapter I wrote to be in later on in the story, though I might also add it as a one shot, because I quite like it and people don't have to read High School Never Ends to get it. So here you go; this is very old and hasn't been beta'd to American spelling, so no flames please about 'realised' instead of 'realized' and such.

Sorry again for not finishing High School Never Ends. Maybe one day I'll carry it on; though to be honest if I were to, I'd completely re-write it.

Loves,

xxxx

Chapter ??

Winry opened her eyes; 'Where am I,' she thought, looking around an unfamiliar room. Feeling the cold metal blanket tighten around her bare waist she slowly turned over to see a sleeping man, whose blond hair was pulled into a messy, loose braid at the back of his head.

Gasping, her eyes opened wide. 'Oh no!' she thought slowly un-wrapped Ed's arm from her waist. Standing up and looking down at herself and then Ed, her fears were confirmed when she realised they were both completely naked.

Suddenly she remembered what had happened the night before.

_ "Well, if you would stop being such a jerk and open up to me more, then maybe I wouldn't hit you round the head so much. We're meant to be best friends! You never tell me anything!" she had screamed._

_ "Well, I'm not going to tell people all my feelings and secrets, so get over it! Now hurry up and adjust my leg for God's sake!" he had yelled back._

_ "No. Find yourself another mechanic. One that doesn't care whether you break you automail or any other part of your body for that matter, and one who won't hesitate to rip you off."_

_ "Fine." He had turned to leave, but suddenly he had turned back, pushed her against the wall and planted his lips firmly against hers. _

_ It took her only a couple of seconds to get over the initial shock before she started to kiss him back furiously, as if it was the last thing she would ever do._

_ "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry," he whispered as his mouth moved to her neck, causing her to gasp._

_ "Me too. I'm really sorry; I'm just worried about you."_

_ "I know."_

Well, one thing had clearly led to another and now she was left in this awful situation with absolutely no idea how the hell she was going to get herself out of it.

After searching around the room manically, she remembered that she had left her clothes in the living room. She tip-toed to the door and opened it a crack, only to hear a key being put in the lock of the front door and it open to reveal Al.

'SHIT. SHIT. SHIT. SHIT!' Winry thought, and weighed up the options she could take.

Her first idea was that she could stay here until Ed woke up, though she wasn't sure how he would react to this either.

The next was that she could wait till Al left, though she wasn't even sure he was going to leave.

Her last one was that she could risk it and try and get her clothes, but the situation would be made a lot worse if two brothers saw her naked. One was bad enough.

Thinking the last idea through logically she discarded it quickly, nearly hitting herself over how stupid it really was.

Looking around the room, she saw a chest of drawers which she walked over to and silently opened, looking for some clothes to wear, discarding all her options and deciding that she had to get out. No matter what, she had to get out, _without_ either of the brothers seeing her naked (again in Ed's case).

Finally she found a black shirt. Grabbing some boxers from an un-opened packet at the back of the draw, she walked over to the corner and quickly changed into it. It was far too big, swamping her small shoulders and falling to her mid thighs. He had definitely grown since he got his automail from her instead of that crappy stuff she concluded. She went back to Ed who was still asleep on the bed and turned to leave the room, deciding she didn't want to risk Ed waking up while she looked for some trousers.

"That looks much better on you than it does me; you know. Mustang bought me those boxers, so I refused to even take them out of the packet," a voice said and Winry cried out in surprise, turning to face Ed who was smiling sheepishly and rubbing his eyes. "Good morning. You're off in a hurry."

"Yeah well, I didn't want it to be awkward," Winry explained but stopped when Al burst into the room.

"I thought I heard a scream; Brother are you – Winry?" he started but stopped.

"Sorry that was me, Ed made me jump," Winry said.

"Oh I see. But what are you doing here. Wait did you…?" Al asked and Ed and Winry both blushed. "That explains why there were some clothes downstairs and why you're wearing Ed's shirt. I just put them in the wash, I'm sorry."

"It's okay. Ed, I'll just have to borrow this till tomorrow."

"That's fine. Al, could you make us some coffee please?" Ed asked. "Winry will have a white coffee with 2 sugars and I'll have the normal please." Al nodded before leaving the room. Ed stood up and Winry spun around, blushing furiously again so her back faced Ed.

"Winry, don't act like you've never seen it," Ed started. "So anyway; you wanted to go and leave. That wouldn't make it less awkward, you know. Not seeing you till Monday after last night and not talking about it, _that_ would be awkward." Grabbing a pair of boxers from the open drawer he threw them on and walked to Winry.

"I was hoping you would've forgotten about it," Winry whispered.

"That's not likely."

"I wish you would," she whispered as quietly as a mouse and Ed frowned.

"Why?"

"Because now we won't just be friends. Now we'll have to be something more. Oh God, what happens if you want it to just be a thing? Or you don't want to be my friend anymore now that we've slept together? What if-," she blabbered but Ed cut her off, wrapping his arms around Winry's waist from behind her and kissing her neck softly.

"I want to be with you," he stated in a matter of fact way, turning her around to face him.

"What?"

"I want to be with you. Last night wouldn't have happened if I didn't."

"What, so we'll be a…couple?"

"If you want to be, then yeah," he muttered, blushing and he turned away in fear of being rejected.

"I'd love to date you."

He grinned. "Brilliant. Come on, let's have some breakfast, I'm starving."

"You're always starving," Winry laughed and they started to walk out of the bedroom to the kitchen.

"Seriously, I don't know how I can make it up to you, but I really am sorry," he said, looking guilty.

"It's okay," she replied.

"No it's not! It was mean and out of order and - ,"

"Ed shut up. We wouldn't have got together if you didn't say those things."

"Oh yeah."

"So really it's okay. And I'm sorry about what I said." Ed grinned but didn't reply. Winry started to frown and Ed nudged her, wondering what was wrong.

"Ummmm, don't you want to get changed?" Winry asked.

"Why? Al's my brother so he doesn't care, and it's not as if you haven't seen me like this before," Ed smirked and Winry looked away "Stop being so embarrassed by this. Last night wasn't the first time you'd seen me not a lot of clothes, you've seen me in only my boxers when putting my automail on." Stopping for a second he turned to the wardrobe and starting pulling clothes out, "Here, put these jeans on. They might be a bit big but at least you'll be completely covered," Ed said, walking over to Winry and passing her some dark coloured jeans. She put them on however they nearly fell off her small hips. Laughing Ed pulled out a black belt and passed it to her before putting some trousers on himself.

"Here, so they don't fall down. You've got a great body, but I don't want the world to see it; I'll be the only one admiring it from now on."

"Who said you'll ever see it again?" Winry grinned and Ed grabbed her, pulling her into a deep kiss. However just before Winry could respond Ed pulled away.

"Tease," he said, smirking and walked away.

"Hypocrite," she smiled and pulled him back into a kiss.

"Hey you two; stop your make-out session and get your coffee before it gets cold," Al yelled from the kitchen and Ed laughed into the kiss.

"He knows us too well." and grabbing her hand, Ed pulled her to the kitchen.

* * *

Hope you enjoyed it

xxxx


End file.
